Grenade
by TALKS
Summary: "Don't get too close to me...I'm a grenade. I might explode when handled the wrong way." *AU*Brittana*
1. Chapter 1

"Cedes this taste like shit!" Santana laughed while spitting out her drink. "You're losing your touch."

"Whatever bitch, you make them then." Mercedes laughed while taking a sip of her drink, and trying her hardest not to make a face. "Ok, this shit is bad."

"As always I have to save our Thirsty Thursday and make the drinks." Santana laughed. "Call Fried Rice and tell her to get her ass here with the food." She added while pouring out the pitcher of margaritas and starting a new batch.

"Stop calling Tina that." Mercedes laughed.

"Her name is Tina?" Santana asked while stopping what she was doing and facing her roommate.

"You know damn well that girls name isn't _Fried Rice_." Mercedes rolled her eyes.

Santana shrugged. "I didn't know it was Tina, I just know she photocopies her notes for Econ and sells them for $5 a class, so as along as she keep doing that, she can keep coming to Thirsty Thursday in apartment 716." She smiled happily.

"Quinn is still pissed at you, so she's not coming but Noah just texted that he's on his way, and he's bringing Sam." Mercedes informed her while reading her text messages.

"Big lips is coming?" Santana frowned.

"Yep." Mercedes nodded.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Just because you like him, he can come, and Noah better bring beer."

"His fake got taken away last week, you have to do a liquor run later." Mercedes told her.

"Why me?" Santana asked while scooping ice into the blender.

"You have the most believable fake ID."

"I have to do _everything _for you idiots." Santana laughed. "Grab the salt for me so I can re-salt our rims."

Mercedes looked through the cabinet. "No more salt."

"What?"

"No more salt." Mercedes shrugged. "You were supposed to go shopping this week, it's your turn."

"Fuck." Santana sighed. "Wait, the new girl across the hall went grocery shopping, maybe she bought some."

"How do you know she went shopping?" Mercedes asked.

"She had bags." Santana shrugged.

"She doesn't talk." Mercedes reminded her. "She moved in like 2 weeks, and doesn't ever come out or barely open the door unless she's leaving, we've basically only seen the back of her head."

"Well, then she should have a shitload of salt." Santana smiled.

The Latina put her Converse back on and trotted across the hall to apartment 715, she knocked on the apartment door loudly, since there was music blasting from it and waited but no response came. Santana knocked again a little louder, quickly getting irritated by how long it was taking and lifted her foot to kick the door.

Suddenly the door flew open and the blonde woman appeared. "What the fuck do you want?!" She snapped.

Santana quickly got lost in her blue eyes before she registered how rude she was, and quickly turned her shocked expression into a glare. "Whoa, I just came to borrow salt, but if you're going to be a bitch..." Before Santana could even her finish her sentence, the door was slammed in her face. "What the flying fuck?!" She snapped before banging on the door again. "Open the fuckin door back up!"

Santana continued knocking on the door as Noah, Sam, and another man came walking down the hall.

"Lopez, you live across the hall." Noah smirked while winking at her.

"I know asshole." Santana snapped before glaring at the door and turning on her heels to walk back in her apartment. "Who's this?" She asked while staring at the third man.

"I'm Finn." He smiled while extending his hand.

"Finn?" She frowned while staring at him. "What happened, your parents couldn't Google baby names for you?"

"Lopez!" Noah laughed. "Chill out, this is my boy from Art History class."

"You don't take Art History." Santana laughed. "Shoes off, it's raining out." She told them while kicking off her sneakers.

"I do since this hot girl I met in the library does." He laughed.

"Gross." Santana rolled her eyes as Mercedes walked out to the living room.

"Did you get the salt?" Mercedes asked while hugging the three men. "Hey Finn, I didn't know you were coming?"

"Noah invited me." Finn smiled. "I brought ice." He beamed while holding up the 20lb bag of ice in his hand.

"Do you have a fake ID?" Santana asked him.

Finn nodded. "Good, go get beer." She replied while pushing him towards the door.

"Here's a $20." Mercedes stated while handing him the cash.

"We'll be back ladies." Noah smiled. "You putting money in?" He asked Santana.

"I'm providing the party house, so no." She replied while pouring a shot of tequila and knocking it back.

After the 3 boys left, Mercedes stared at the Latina. "What?" Santana asked while picking up the stereo remote and turning it on.

"Where's the salt?" Mercedes asked while laughing. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Oh! First, that bitch rudely took forever to answer the door, theeeeeeeeeennnnn she yelled at me, and asked _what the fuck I wanted_." Santana snapped. "Who the fuck does she think she's talking to?"

Mercedes squinted at her best friend of 5 years and shook her head. The two first met in middle school, then went on to highschool together, they originally didn't get along, but after a Biology class pairing, they became inseparable and thus, best friends. They both applied to the University of Illinois at Chicago and were granted early acceptance, since they were originally from Chicago, they moved into an apartment together for more freedom versus living in the dorms. "What did you say to her?"

"I told her she was being a major bitch!" Santana exclaimed while jumping up. "She was Cedes, who opens the door like that, and I didn't even get the chance to ask for my fuckin salt."

"I don't know why you went over there anyways." Mercedes laughed. "Well we just have to have salt_less_ rims."

"I should have poked her damn blue eye out." Santana snapped as she turned on the stereo and starting dancing to a Rihanna song.

()()()()()

**2am**

After a long shower, Santana, who was drunk, crawled in her bed and piled her covers on her, wiggling to get comfortable when her bedroom door opened and a figure walked in.

"I thought you were mad at me." Santana asked Quinn, her good friend from high school, who turned into her _friend with benefits_ a year ago.

"I am, well I was." Quinn shrugged while taking her clothes off and sliding in bed next to the Latina. "Sorry I missed the party."

Santana shrugged and turned on her side, wrapping her arm around Quinn's waist. "You didn't miss much." She slurred as she quickly attached her lips to Quinn's neck, her hand moving up and down the blonde's body. Quinn turned her head so Santana could catch her lips as the Latina rolled on her and began rocking on her leg.

()()()()()

Brittany laid on the floor in the middle of the living room of her apartment, a single candle casting a soft glow around her. Her long blonde hair was spread about the floor, almost like a crown surrounding her face. She was wearing only a t-shirt, and a pair of yoga pants, and her fingers danced around the hem of her shirt nervously. After a noise complaint from the building manager that her music was too loud, even though she was more than positive that the noise complaint should have gone to the party across the hall, she took a shower, and turned off all the lights in her new apartment, she looked out the window most of the night at the bright lights of Chicago, that even through the rain still made the city look glorious.

Brittany moved to Chicago two weeks ago to attend The Art Institute of Chicago this upcoming fall, having been bounced from foster home to foster home growing up, she had no attachment to Nashville, Tennessee where she was born, and wanted out of the city as soon as possible, she worked 3 jobs after graduating high school, saving every penny with plans to move to Chicago to study art. With the help of her best friend, Rachel, who moved to Chicago right after graduation herself, she filled out numerous scholarship and grant applications, and had had enough money for her first year of tuition. She used the money from her odd jobs to find a cheap basic apartment in Nashville, skipping cable and Internet, thus leaving her with the bare minimum bills, the only luxury she afforded herself was a cell phone. After saving for two years she decided she had enough money to move north and start her secondary education.

Once she hit the windy city, she immediately found a job waitressing, another job as a bartender twice a week, and a final job at a book store. She once again only allowed herself the bare minimums, so no cable, internet, no take out food, and no furniture. She slept on an air mattress in the living room, pushed off to the side under the window, she used the bedroom as her art studio, the only thing she spent money on was her art supplies. She had her artwork displayed on the walls of the bedroom, and a single drawing desk in the room, a 'moving gift' from Rachel.

"Hey." She smiled at the tiny grey kitten she picked up at the animal shelter a two weeks ago when she was job hunting. She lifted the kitten and set him on her chest, slowly rubbing his back. She scratched the sleepy kitten behind the ear, when he laid his head on her chest and closed his eyes. "Let's get some sleep." She whispered as her cell phone rang, she frowned and answered when she saw Rachel's name on the screen.

**_Hey Rachel, what's wrong, it's 2 in the morning?_**

_Nothing, I just got home from the library and wanted to check on you, how are you doing in the new apartment._

Rachel attended Columbia College where she studied nursing; she lived in the dorms on the other side of town and hadn't had a chance to make it to Brittany's apartment since helping her move in the first day.

**_I'm fine, tired and a little cold, but I'm going to cuddle with Lord Tubbington in a few minutes, so we'll be fine._**

_Who's Lord Tubbington?_ Rachel asked. _Did you finally make a friend in the building?_

**_It's the kitten I rescued from the shelter, and although one of the girls from across the hall was banging on my door like a fuckin weirdo earlier, I haven't met anyone in the building yet, and I like it that way. _**

_Was she high? Why was she banging on the door?_

**_I don't know what she was on, she mumbled something about salt, I closed the door in her face, she kept banging on the door, but eventually she got bored and left._**

_That's so scary, keep your doors locked._

**_I'm not afraid of her, I have a baseball bat and a knife, so I should be okay, and I grew up on the streets of Nashville, so Chicago doesn't worry me._**

_You had foster parents Brittany. _Rachel said softly.

Brittany snorted. _No, I had people use me for extra money and as soon as I turned 18 years old and the check from the state stopped coming they basically kicked me out._

**_Well, you had me, you like my sister. _**Rachel reminded her.

_I know, you've always been there for me Rach, I'll love you for that, you and your dads are my family. _Brittany replied as the kitten yawned as wide as they could and nestled on Brittany's chest, falling asleep.

**_When do you start work at the diner?_**

_Tomorrow afternoon, from 3pm to 8pm, then I bartend from 10pm from 3am._

**_You're going to be rolling in money. _**Rachel teased. **_I'll stop by to see you at the diner. _**

_Ok, get some rest Rachel, you sound exhausted._

**_Have a good night, Brittany, love ya dear._**

_Love you too Rachel. Good night._

Brittany blew out her candle and walked over to the air mattress and set her kitten down next to the pillow, smiling when he curled in a little ball right away and closed his eyes. She looked out the window one last time before lying down and closing her eyes, trying to fall asleep.

()()()()()

"Damn, Q, was that make up sex or something, because that shit was hot." Santana smiled before kissing Quinn deeply and rolling of off her, settling next to her while catching her breath.

Quinn smirked and kissed Santana on the forehead. "No, it wasn't make up sex, just fuckin hott."

"Yeah it was." Santana smiled sleepily.

"You're drunk, go to sleep." Quinn laughed as she cuddled in Santana's side and rubbed her arm slowly as she fell asleep herself.

()()()()()

**8am**

Santana set the stack of pancakes she made on the table, and slid the scrambled eggs onto a plate, setting them on the table as well; she grabbed a red bull out of the fridge and stuffed it in her bag. She then went to her bedroom and kissed Quinn on the cheek.

"I'm heading out, I need to study, I made breakfast, it's on the table, go eat before it gets too cold." She said to the sleeping blonde.

Quinn nodded, keeping her eyes closed. Santana laughed and kissed her softly on the lips before grabbing her cell phone and leaving the room, closing the door softly behind her. She then went to Mercedes bedroom door and knocked.

"I made breakfast!" She yelled through the door. "Come eat bee-yotch." She added before laughing and knocking again. She went to the kitchen, still laughing at herself as she grabbed her backpack off the kitchen counter. She picked up a pancake and took a huge bite of it as she grabbed her keys and left the apartment.

She stuffed the rest of her pancake in her mouth as she turned to lock the apartment door. She tripped back over her shoestring and knocked Brittany into the wall, causing her to drop everything in her hands.

"Shit, sorry." Santana sighed while standing back up.

"Watch where the fuck you're going." Brittany snapped while picking up the papers she dropped.

"What's with you?" Santana frowned. "Someone piss in your lemonade as a kid or something?"

"What?" Brittany scowled as she stood back up.

"You're a major bitch." Santana replied calmly. "First with the salt, then just now. I said sorry, chill the fuck out."

"Just watch where you're going." Brittany told her sternly, she glared at the Latina before opening her apartment door and slamming it shut once she was inside.

Santana stood in disbelief glaring at the apartment door. "Bitch!" She yelled out before kicking Brittany's door and kicking her pancake that was now on the ground. "Fuck!" She yelled angrily before heading down the hall. "I swear I'm poking out of her damn blue eyes out, if she yells at me again, no one yells at me." Santana then turned back around and yelled again. "You can't yell at me! My damn mom doesn't yell at me like that." She snapped before opening her red bull and turning back around to head to the elevator.

()()()()()

Brittany walked in her apartment and took a deep breath; she set her papers on the kitchen counter and sighed as she reorganized them. She then set down the toy she bought for Lord Tubbington, at the corner store up the street.

"I can only buy you one toy, we have to save money for school and bills." She told the kitten as she sat on the floor and smiled when he slowly walked over to her. "I promise to play with you as much as I can to make up for it." She added as the kitten sat on her thigh. "Maybe if I get a bunch of tips, I'll get you something else too, but I did get the some good food for you, you seem to like that." She smiled as the kitten started to swat at the toy and play.

Brittany sat and held him, playing with him for an half hour before her stomach started to growl. She set the kitten back on the floor and went to wash her hands so she could fix herself lunch. She made herself a grilled cheese sandwich and went to her 'art room'. She sat at her desk staring at her blank canvas, while she ate her sandwich slowly, and ideas paraded through her head before finally deciding on one and beginning to sketch it out.

3 hours later Brittany's alarm on her phone went off, indicating she needed to get ready for work. She stared at her drawing and took a picture of it on her phone, so she could continue fantasizing and drawing in her head while at work. She took a quick shower and put on her black pants, and white collared shirt. She grabbed her sketchbook and put it in her backpack with some pens and color pencils, and the black dress she planned to wear while bartending. She then poured a bowl of food for the kitten before setting his toy next to the air mattress. She looked around her apartment and decided to make herself a sandwich to eat between jobs on the bus, so she wouldn't have to buy any food while she was out. Brittany arrived at _Lucille's_ with a few minutes to spare, she took her belongings and stuffed them in her locker and quickly made her way to her first table.

After three hours of waiting demanding tables, Brittany was finally granted a break. She grabbed her backpack and walked up the street to a park, where she sat on a bench and people watched, she pulled out her sketchbook and began to sketch the scenery in front of her, when she spotted Santana and Quinn walking through the park. She rolled her eyes at the Latina and turned her head to other direction, hoping Santana didn't see her. Santana and Quinn were laughing loudly as they made their way through the park, both eating hotdogs from a vendor in the park, completely oblivious to Brittany's presence. Once Brittany knew they were gone, she looked back at her view and finished sketching quickly, before pulling out her colored pencils and shading in some areas with color.

She glanced at the time and saw she needed to head back to work, so she walked over to a little girl who was playing with her mother and handed her the picture. "I'm sure this will look awesome in your bedroom." She smiled to the little girl.

"Look mommy!" The little girl said excitedly as Brittany walked away with a huge smile on her own face.

()()()()()

**3am**

Brittany dragged into the apartment building and made her way quickly to her 7th floor apartment. She heard the loud music coming from Santana and Mercedes's apartment and sighed. She walked into her dark apartment and turned on the light in the kitchen dropping her backpack on the floor. She grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it quickly with water from the tap, chugging it almost one gulp. She then stripped down and took a long hot shower before collapsing on her air mattress and falling asleep almost instantly.

She jerked awake when she heard a loud crash, followed by a fury of Spanish, mixed in with some English curse words. She stood up and went to the front door and looked through the peephole, where she saw Santana, dressed in a sweatshirt, and a little pair of shorts, with long purple socks on, and black reading glasses on, her hair was in a messy bun and she was pointing a finger in a man's face.

"You fuckin ass Noah!" She screamed. "Why would the fuck would you do that?"

"Chill San, it was an accident!" He groaned while rubbing his head nervously.

"My dad is going to freak if I tell him I broke my laptop!" Santana screamed. "I can't get a new one, you know that shit!"

"I'll get it fixed." Noah replied.

"Unlike you, I do my fuckin homework and study!" She yelled before switching back to Spanish and firing insults at him once again, pushing him into the wall.

Brittany opened the door slightly as Noah retreated down the hall, still being victim to Santana's words and now her glare, the Latina turned and noticed Brittany's door open.

"Nosey ass bitch, go back to being weird." She snapped while glaring at the door and walking back in her own apartment, slamming the door behind her.

Brittany frowned and closed her door again, locking it tightly before lying back down on her mattress. "I think she's the real bitch, not me." She shrugged while pulling her cover higher over her body and closing her eyes.

()()()()()

**2 weeks later…**

Brittany finally found her footing in Chicago, she was getting used to her schedule and the fast pace of the city, and was starting to enjoy her time there, she hung out with Rachel the previous weekend, and found some bars she enjoyed. It was a warm Saturday morning, so she woke up earlier and went for a run around the neighborhood, something she did to clear her head and gain some new ideas for her drawings.

She walked back in the apartment building, feeling refreshed, and in a great mood. She took her ear buds out of her ears and wiped her forehead with her shirt, exposing her toned stomach, as she went to her mailbox and pulled out her mail, smiling brightly when she saw a letter from Mike Chang, an old boyfriend from high school that she remained great friends with. She then went through the other junk mail and headed towards the elevator with her head down as she looked at the return address from Mike, and noticed it said Chicago.

"Bullshit!" Santana laughed loudly as she came out of the elevator, she looked up from the text message she was reading and saw Brittany in front of her, a scowl on her face.

"Why are you always so loud?" Brittany snapped.

Santana glared back at her. "Says the girl that opened the door and screamed at me?" She laughed as she brushed past her and left the lobby.

Brittany sighed and shook her head while walking towards the elevator, she was pressing the button when she heard someone yell.

"Hold the elevator please!"

Brittany looked up and saw Mercedes running towards her, she quickly pressed the button to hold the doors open.

"Thanks." Mercedes panted out. "7th floor please."

"Sure." Brittany nodded and pressed the button before stepping to the back of the elevator.

"You new to the building?" Mercedes asked her.

"Umm, not really. I moved in a month ago." Brittany smiled politely.

"Sweet, well me and my roomie kind of run the building." Mercedes smiled while extending her hand. "Any problems with anyone, just let me know. I'm Mercedes."

Brittany took her hand and shook it. "Great, thanks, everyone has been pretty nice so far, but I keep having a run in with one girl." She shrugged. "She's loud and bitchy, but I'm just going to stay out of her way, and hopefully she stays the hell out of mine."

"Gotcha." Mercedes nodded with a smile. "No need to put up with bullshit."

"I don't plan to." Brittany replied sternly.

"Fiesty." Mercedes laughed as the elevator stopped at the 7th floor. Brittany allowed Mercedes to leave the elevator first, not entirely trusting her so she didn't want Mercedes to see where she lived. She walked a few paces behind her and froze when Mercedes went to her apartment, and waved at her one last time before walking in and closing the door.

"Fuck, she's the spawn of the devil's roommate?" Brittany groaned as she quickly went in her apartment.

* * *

**Should I keep going?  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all of your reviews on the last chapter...**

* * *

"So have you made any friends in the building yet?" Rachel asked as she sat on the bean bag chair in Brittany's living room with a cup of tea.

Brittany followed her and placed down the bowl of pretzels between them after taking a seat on the floor. "I wouldn't say friends but this girl across the hall is nice, her name is Mercedes, I see her at the mailbox a lot, she's always smiling and strikes up a conversation with me about random things, usually something music or pop culture related. Just this morning she randomly asked me if I played the Kim Kardashian game on my ipad."

Rachel smiled. "You don't have an ipad."

Brittany nodded. "I know and I told her that, and after she got the shocked look off of her face, she told me I could play on iPhone, and offered to help me if I need any tips on the game."

"That's nice of her." Rachel beamed.

Brittany shrugged. "Yeah, she's nice, I don't plan on downloading the game, but I like that offered. She also told me that if I needed anything to just come to her, I guess she's lived her for a while."

"I thought the loud mouth lived across the hall from you?" Rachel asked with a slight frown.

Brittany popped a few of the bite size pretzels in her mouth and nodded. "She does, they're roommates."

"Oh, well that must be interesting." Rachel laughed.

Brittany simply shrugged. "A little. I try to steer clear of everyone and everything, especially her, I just want to start school and paint." She smiled.

"Well Picasso, you still need to have a little fun." Rachel teased her. "Come out with me tonight?"

"No." Brittany replied quickly while smiling at Lord Tubbington, as he clawed his new ball from Rachel.

"You've lived in Chicago for over a full month and still haven't gone out to at least a bar." Rachel complained. "Yes I know you bartend a little, but that doesn't count." She added when Brittany opened her mouth in protest. "It's finals week basically across the country, everyone will be out partying and celebrating the start of summer. Chicago in the summer is amazing, we have the lake, we have Navy Pier, and hundreds of clubs and bars; forget New York, Chicago doesn't sleep!"

Brittany laughed. "Since when did you become a party animal?"

"Oh whatever, we partied like hell in highschool, come out with me tonight." Rachel laughed.

"Yeah we did party our asses off in highschool, but I just got this TV off of Craigslist, it has a built in VCR and everything, I was going to rent some movies from the RedBox and relax." Brittany protested while pointing at the television set.

Rachel turned to look at the 19in box TV and VCR combo that Brittany had sitting on a crate and smiled. "As fun as a movie marathon would be, going out to party and having a drink would be even better."

Brittany rolled her eyes, "well I'm 20 and you're 19 so how do we get in clubs?"

"Duh, we get fakes." Rachel beamed. "I met this guy named, Puck, and he sells them."

"He sells them?" Brittany asked.

"Well his brother, Jake, makes them." Rachel clarified. "Jake is a student at Columbia with me, I found out after meeting Puck."

Brittany took a long sip of her soda and set the bottle back down. "So where did you meet Puck?"

"The liquor store." Rachel laughed. "I was with Tracy and she wanted to get some wine coolers, so I waited outside, that's when Puck tried to get my number, but I decided to play coy, he invited me to this club tonight, but I told him I needed an ID, he said he could get me one for twenty five dollars, the conversation took off from there. I met him at Jake's dorm room, to check the quality, and they are so amazing."

"Twenty five dollars?" Brittany muttered.

"Tell you what, you buy the ID, which is a great investment, and I'll buy your drinks tonight, and I'll pay for the cab." Rachel compromised.

"Vodka, redbull, cranberry, with a lime twist." Brittany told her while raising her eye brow. "That's what I want tonight, and you have to buy me a hotdog from one of the carts on the street."

"Deal." Rachel smiled. "We're going out!" She screamed while jumping up and starting to dance.

Brittany raised her eyebrow and laughed. "You're off beat."

"Impossible, I'm dancing to the song in my head." Rachel replied.

"Well, that song is off beat." Brittany laughed.

()()()()()

Santana tossed her ink pen down, snatched her glasses off, and began rubbing her eyes before leaning her head on the desk in her room. She felt two hands on her shoulders, massaging slowly.

"Let's take a study break." Quinn whispered seductively.

"No." Santana sighed. "I need to finish my paper, I just need a glass of water." She said while shrugging Quinn's hands off of her and leaving the bedroom. Quinn rolled her eyes and flopped back on the Latina's bed with a loud groan.

Santana reemerged to the bedroom with a bottle of water and took her position back at her desk. She ran her fingers through her hair after taking a few sips and refocused her attention back on her laptop. Quinn once again stood up and hugged the Latina over her shoulders from behind, allowing her left hand to slide down and grab Santana's breast as she kissed her neck softly.

"Stop Q." Santana mumbled softly.

"Come on, babe." Quinn whispered while sucking her earlobe in her mouth.

"What the fuck did I just say, Quinn?" Santana finally snapped. "I have to finish my paper and study."

"It's fuckin Friday." Quinn hissed as she moved her hands off of Santana. "Lighten up."

Santana rubbed her eyes harshly and turned around. "I have to study, why don't you understand that, we go to school together, your finals are next week too."

"I'll worry about that Sunday night." Quinn shrugged.

"Well, I'm worrying about that now. I don't have a trust fund and a rich daddy to talk care of me for the rest of my life. I need to graduate, and to do that I need to study." Santana snapped. "If you can't respect that, then take your ass home."

"Fuck you Santana." Quinn replied.

"I know you want to, but I _need_ to study." Santana mumbled.

"Fine, I'll just go to sleep then." Quinn sighed while taking her shoes off and lying in Santana's bed.

"Can you take a nap at home?" Santana asked her.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I can't focus with you here, you keep doing things to distract me, just go home Q." Santana stated as she turned back around.

"You're a shitty ass girlfriend." Quinn hissed as she put her shoes back on.

Santana turned around and glared at the blonde. "We aren't girlfriends, we just fuck, and _if_ we were together you would be the shitty ass girlfriend right now, since you don't understand I need to study, and if you do understand, you are rude as hell and just don't care." She then stood up. "Get the fuck outta my apartment."

Quinn grabbed her purse and stormed out of the bedroom, Santana leaned her head back on her chair and screamed loudly after she heard the apartment door slam. Mercedes came in her room and raised an eyebrow at her. "You okay?"

Santana nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"Wanna talk?" Mercedes asked.

"Maybe later, I need to finish my paper." Santana replied.

"Ok, well I'm getting ready to cook something to eat, hungry?"

"What are you making?" Santana asked as her cell phone began to chime with text messages.

"Does it matter?" Mercedes laughed. "You eat everything I cook anyways."

"True." Santana smiled.

Mercedes laughed and closed Santana's bedroom door, she went to the kitchen and began to sing to herself as she pulled out ingredients to cook.

()()()()()

Brittany had music playing from her phone as she smoothed out the short black dress she had on in the bathroom. She glanced down at Lord Tubbington and smiled at him. "How do I look?" She asked the kitten. He stared blankly at her, causing her to laugh. "Should I wear my hair up or down?" She then asked while lifting her hair in a pony tail, giving the kitten time to stare at her, before dropping her hair and letting it fall past her shoulders.

The kitten laid down and purred softly, Brittany took that to mean, keep her hair up, so she put her hair in a high pony tail and checked her makeup, just as there was a knock on her door. She turned the light off and carefully stepped over the kitten to open it.

"I thought I was going to have get you dressed and drag you out of here myself." Rachel teased.

Brittany rolled her eyes and smiled. "Hey as long as I get my drink and my hotdog there's no reason for me to flake out on you."

"Here's your ID." Rachel smiled as she pulled the ID out of her purse.

"Heather Beckenbridge?" Brittany groaned. "That's the name he picked for me?"

"I'm Marissa Sanchez." Rachel stated proudly.

"You don't look like a Marissa." Brittany teased her.

Rachel laughed. "I know, I look better." She then pulled out a mini bottle of vodka out of her purse. "Let's pre-game."

Brittany nodded and grabbed two shot glasses from her cabinet and filled them up. "Your dress is amazing." She told Rachel while sliding her a shot glass. Rachel was wearing a tight white dress, the sides were cut out, and it had a plunging back line to it, she paired the dress with bright yellow stilettos, and a white, pink, and yellow purse. She had her hair in soft curls pinned over her right shoulder, and bright red lipstick on.

"Thanks Brit." She smiled. "You look amazing yourself, time to catch us some men!" She said while lifting her glass in the air.

"Or in your case, some women." Brittany smirked.

"Hey, it was _one_ time, and I was curious." Rachel countered quickly.

"Whatever." Brittany laughed. "Cheers!" They clinked glasses and knocked back their shots quickly. Brittany then set out some fresh water for Lord Tubbington and closed the door to her art room, she left the light over the stove on for the kitten and kissed the top of his head softly before grabbing her clutch and reaching for the door handle. "Wait...hold on." Brittany said quietly when she heard the commotion in the hallway.

Quinn was banging on Santana and Mercedes' door. "Open the fuckin door Santana!"

"Who's that?" Rachel asked as they peeped through the sliver of the door that was open.

"I don't know." Brittany shrugged. "I'll never seen her before."

Suddenly the door flew open. "You're fuckin drunk, go home Quinn." Santana sighed. She was wearing a GAP sweatshirt, and a pair of sweats, a pencil in her hand.

"Can I just come in?" Quinn asked as she leaned forward to kiss the Latina.

Santana turned her head. "No, look I'll call you a cab and wait downstairs with you, let me get my phone." She sighed as she closed the door.

"Let's go now." Brittany told Rachel while grabbing her hand and pulling the brunette behind her. They ran down the hall to the elevator and quickly slipped in.

"I wanted to see how that ended." Rachel pouted.

"I didn't." Brittany shrugged. "It's always a ton of drama at their door, and _Santana_ is usually the reason for it."

Rachel shrugged. "Well, at least it makes up for you not having cable." She teased as she flagged down a cab once they were outside.

"Ha ha ha." Brittany replied while rolling her eyes and playfully hitting Rachel on the arm.

()()()()()

After waiting in the lobby, with a very drunk and horny Quinn, who couldn't keep her hands to herself, Santana finally put her in a cab and went back up to her apartment. She was lying on the couch with her Economics book, highlighting and taking notes when Mercedes came in the apartment.

"Hey chica." Mercedes smiled while sitting on the coffee table. "Come out with me tonight."

Santana raised an eyebrow at her and nodded to her Economics book. "Studying."

"I'm just going to a bar to grab a few drinks." Mercedes told her. "I know you aren't focused because Quinn just drunkenly cried my ear off about how you won't have sex with her."

"I'm not feeling her anymore, she wants a relationship and I don't." Santana shrugged. "I made it clear we were just fuckin around, but she keeps calling me her girlfriend, a lot lately, and I don't like it."

"Well, come out and have a few drinks with me." Mercedes replied, "Maybe we'll find you a new hot piece of ass."

Santana scowled before laughing loudly. "If you promise to never say hot piece of ass again, then fine I'll go, but just for an hour or two."

"Got it." Mercedes smiled. "I need to show off my new fake ID anyways."

Santana stuck her highlighter in her book and set it on the table before going to her bathroom to take a shower.

()()()()()

"Another round of shots!" Rachel yelled loudly to Brittany and Mike, who joined them out on the town with his friend Jason. "I'll treat."

Brittany gave the thumbs up and took sip of her red bull. "So Mike, how's Chicago treating you?"

"Awesome, how is Chicago treating you?" Mike replied with a smile.

Brittany shrugged. "Okay, I got a kitten, he's awesome, and I like my jobs."

"What about a few friends in your building?" Mike asked.

"Did Rachel tell you to ask me?" Brittany laughed.

"Guilty." Mike nodded. "Seriously B, you can't go through life alone, find a new guy or girl."

"I can't afford to get off course right now." Brittany shook her head as Rachel walked back with the shots and sat in Jason's lap, with whom she's been flirting with all night.

"I'm trying to get Brittany to live a little, and have some fun, but..." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I'll show you fun." Brittany smirked as she took all four shots quickly.

"Damn!" Jason laughed.

"Still a champ at drinking." Mike laughed while hugging Brittany tightly. "Come dance with me, for old times sake."

"Ok." Brittany accepted his hand and allowed Mike to lead her to the dance floor where they both instantly caught the rhythm of the song

()()()()()

"One more drink and I'll probably leave." Santana leaned over and told Mercedes.

Mercedes glanced at her watch and nodded. "Ok." She smiled. "So we need to plan our huge roof top party like soon."

Santana replied to a text on her phone. "Hell yeah, I'll get the kegs, and the beer pong table, Puck has the invitations so we need to pass them out. Our end of semester party is always the biggest and best party of the year."

"We still charging $5 a head this year?" Mercedes asked.

"Yep, easy money." Santana laughed as Beyonce's "Get Me Bodied" came blasting through the speakers. Santana and Mercedes nodded to the beat while dancing in their seats as Noah and Finn walked over to them, each holding two beers and handed them each one.

"There's a crowd forming." Finn pointed out. "Let's check it out."

The four of them walked navigated through the small crowd and small two people flawlessly dancing to the song.

_Mission one_  
_ I'ma put this on_  
_ When he see me in the dress I'ma get me some (hey)_  
_ Mission two_  
_ Gotta make that call_  
_ Tell him get the bottles poppin' when they play my song (hey)_  
_ Mission three_  
_ Got my three best friends_  
_ Like we do it all the time we gonna do it again (hey)_  
_ Mission four_  
_ Got the vintage Rolls_  
_ Drop a couple hundreds tell him leave it at the door_

"Hey that's Brittany." Mercedes smiled. "Go girl!" She then cheered as Brittany and Mike continued to dance perfectly in sync.

"Go Brittany!" Rachel cheered as she danced her way through the crowd and stood next to Santana, who glanced at her and glared slightly when she bumped her arm.

Mike then stepped back and nodded his head to the beat, crossing his arms over his chest as Brittany began to dance herself, slow and seductively.

_I ain't worried doing me tonight  
A little sweat ain't never hurt nobody  
While you all standin' on the wall  
I'm the one tonight  
Getting bodied, getting bodied, getting bodied, getting bodied  
Want my body  
Won't you get me bodied  
You want my body  
Won't you get me bodied (hey)_

"Isn't that the bitch from across the hall?" Santana turned and asked Mercedes. "Why do you know her name and why are cheering her on?" She asked angrily.

"Don't call her a bitch." Rachel stated quickly. "You must be the loud mouth from across the hall."

"Loud mouth?" Santana turned her head and asked. "Who the fuck are you, hobbit?" She hissed as Mercedes smoothly moved to stand between them.

"Let's just calm down." Mercedes interjected quickly.

Santana continued to glare at Rachel, who matched her glare before turning back to Brittany and Mike, who were now doing the routine from the video.

_Ladies on the floor, all my ladies on the floor if you ready get it ready lets get it and drop it.  
Drop down low and sweep the floor wit it drop drop down low and sweep the floor wit it,  
Drop down low and sweep the floor wit it drop drop down low and sweep the floor wit it.  
Do the uh oh do the uh oh do the uh oh uh oh uh oh oh no no, uh oh do the uh oh do the uh oh uh oh uh oh oh no no.  
Pat your weaves ladies pat pat pat your weaves ladies watch it while he check up on it,  
Pat your weaves ladies pat pat pat your weaves ladies watch it while he check up on it.  
Tick tick tick tick fight,  
now tick tick tick tick tick tick fight,  
now tick tick tick tick fight,  
now tick tick tick tick tick tick fight.  
Now pose for the camera now flick flick flick, pose for the camera  
now flick flick flick, pose for the camera  
now flick flick flick, pose for the camera  
now flick flick flick.  
Do an old school dance an old school dance an old school dance do an old school,  
Do an old school dance an old school dance an old school dance get old school._

"You must be one of Brittany's friends." Mercedes smiled at Rachel. "I'm Mercedes, i live across the hall from her."

Rachel extended her hand. "I heard about you. I'm Rachel."

"Nice to meet you." Mercedes smiled back.

"Fuckin traitor." Santana snapped while taking a step away from Mercedes.

Mercedes rolled her eyes at the Latina and began to dance in place at Brittany and Mike continued to kill the routine.

_Do the Naomi Campbell walk, Naomi Campbell walk  
Walk across the room like Naomi Campbell  
Do the Naomi Campbell walk, Naomi Campbell walk  
Walk across the room like Naomi Campbell  
Snap for the kids, snap for the kids  
Snap in a circle three times  
Snap for the kids, snap for the kids  
Snap in a circle three times  
I touch ya body, while ya touch my body  
We touching bodies tonight  
We getting bodied  
I touch ya body,while ya touch my body  
We touching bodies tonight  
We getting bodied_

_She does have an amazing body. _Santana thought to herself as Brittany danced. _But nope, she's a rude ass bitch._ She shook her head quickly. "Noah, grab me another drink."

"Got it." Noah nodded and went to the bar with Finn.

Santana saw Mike hug Brittany tightly as he picked her up and spun her around with a big smile on his face, and scowled before going to the bar and meeting Noah and Finn.

"You still got the moves babe!" Mike smiled happily before kissing Brittany on the cheek, she turned her head and caught his lips softly.

"Sorry." She sighed when the kiss broke.

"Don't be." Mike told her. "Hey, we have a history, right?"

"Right." Brittany nodded. "I just love dancing with you, I always have."

"I know, same here." Mike told her. "We agreed to just be friends, right?"

"Right." Brittany nodded. "Won't happen again, as long as we don't do our Janet Jackson routine again."

"That was a wild night." Mike teased. "Seriously, don't worry about it, B." He assured her as he kissed her on the cheek again.

Brittany ran over to Rachel and hugged her tightly. "You were amazing Brit." Rachel beamed. "So were you Mike."

"Hey, I just follow her lead." Mike teased.

"I didn't know you had moves like that Brittany." Mercedes smiled. "That was awesome girl, you coulda been in the video with Beyonce."

Brittany quickly blushed. "Thanks Mercedes, but I'm not that good." She added humbly. "Rach, this is Mercedes, my neightbor that I told you about from across the hall, Mercedes, this is my best friend Rachel, and a very good friend of mine, Mike."

"You got some moves." Mercedes winked at Mike.

"Thanks." He laughed.

"Well, why don't we all grab some shots together?" Mercedes suggested.

"Sounds good." Brittany nodded as Mercedes and Mike began to chat and headed towards the bar.

"I also had the horrible experience of meeting your other neighbor." Rachel rolled her eyes.

Brittany frowned. "Who?"

"The loud mouth, she's beyond rude, I thought you were exaggerating at first, but no, she's horrible."

"She's here?" Brittany asked with a scowl as they walked up to the bar and Santana turned around with her plastic shot glass still completely in her mouth still.

Santana spit the shot glass out at Brittany. "You missed a step in the routine." She smirked before turning back around. "Mike, is it?" Santana asked with a big smile. "You, sir, were phenomenal."

Brittany instantly glared at her. "Bullshit, and do _not_ spit anything out at me ever again."

"Thanks, Brittany did amazing too." Mike said quickly while glancing at Brittany.

"She was stiff on a few dances." Santana laughed as the bartender set a long island in front of her. "Thanks babe." She winked at the bartender and slid him two dollars.

"You're stiff." Rachel snapped.

Santana spun around. "Excuse me?"

"Brittany wasn't stiff, and you know it." Rachel added while taking a step in Santana's face.

"Watch it Rachel, back up a little." Mercedes told her sternly. "I don't have a problem with you or Brittany, but touch my girl here and you'll regret it."

"Brittany can dance circles around you." Rachel snapped.

"Dance off!" Finn yelled loudly.

"I have nothing to prove." Santana scoffed.

"Scared?" Brittany asked with a smirk.

"You talk a lot of shit, blondie." Santana told her while getting in Brittany's face. "I don't like you."

"Good, so when I kick your ass on the dance floor it won't hurt as bad." Brittany replied while handing Rachel her purse.

Santana knocked back her drink. "Let's do this shit."

"Sexy, I gotta record this." Noah laughed.

Santana took off the blazer she was wearing and handed it to Mercedes, "can you hold this Cedes?"

"Santana, she's an amazing dancer, don't do this." Mercedes told her.

"Who's side are you on?!" Santana almost yelled.

"Yours, you know that." Mercedes replied harshly.

"Have my damn back, right now." Santana stated as she walked to the middle of the small dance floor in the bar.

Brittany followed her to the dance floor and stared the Latina down, a small crowd circled the two. "What song?" Brittany asked coldly.

"Your choice." Santana stated confidently. "I can dance to _any _song."

"Well, if you're a_ real _ dancer, then you should know this routine." Brittany stated smugly while nodding to Rachel, who ran to the DJ and requested a song. "Keep up if you can." Brittany added as the song started.

_All my people in the crowd_  
_ Grab a partner take it down!_

_ It's me against the music_  
_ Uh uh_  
_ It's just me_  
_ And me_  
_ Yeah_  
_ C'mon_  
_ Hey Britney?_  
_ Are you ready?_  
_ Uh uh, are you?_

"Piece of cake." Santana smiled as they both started the routine from the video, with Santana taking Madonna's role and Brittany, of course, taking Britney's role.

The two danced with glares on their faces as the crowd around them doubled, and patrons quickly took sides in the competition.

_No one cares_  
_ It's whippin'my hair, it's pullin' my waist_  
_ To hell with stares_  
_ The sweat is drippin' all over my face_  
_ No one's there_  
_ I'm the only one dancin' up in this place_  
_ Tonight I'm here_  
_ Feel the beat of the drum, gotta keep it that bass_  
_ I'm up against the speaker, tryin' to take on the music_  
_ It's like a competition, me against the beat_  
_ I wanna get in the zone, I wanna get in the zone_  
_ If you really wanna battle, saddle up and get your rhythm_  
_ Tryin' to hit it, you could die_  
_ In a minute I'm a take a you on, I'm a take a you on_  
_ Hey, hey, hey._

Santana began to freestyle dance, the first verse while Brittany stood to the side and watched, her facial expression never changing. _Damn, she's pretty good, and she's sexy when she dances. _Brittany thought to herself. _But I got this._ She assured herself.

_All my people on the floor_  
_ Let me see you dance_  
_ Let me see ya_  
_ All my people wantin' more_  
_ Let me see you dance_  
_ I wanna see ya_  
_ All my people round and round_  
_ Let me see you dance_  
_ Let me see ya_  
_ All my people in the crowd_  
_ Let me see you dance_  
_ I wanna see ya_  
_ So how would you like a friendly competition_  
_ Let's take on the song_  
_ It's you and me baby, we're the music_  
_ Time to party all night long_

They both then danced separately, trying to win the crowd over as the next verse came on and Brittany began her freestyle. _She has potential to be sexy, if she keeps her damn mouth closed._ Santana thought to herself. _Ive been overly nice to her, I'm done._

_We're almost there  
I'm feelin' it bad and I can't explain  
My soul is bare  
My hips are movin' at a rapid pace  
Baby feel it burn  
From the tip of my toes, runnin' through my veins  
And now it's your turn  
Let me see what you got, don't hesitate  
I'm up against the speaker, tryin' to take on the music  
It's like a competition, me against the beat  
I wanna get in the zone, I wanna get in the zone  
If you really wanna battle, saddle up and get your rhythm  
Tryin' to hit it, you could die  
In a minute I'm a take a you on, I'm a take a you on  
Hey, hey, hey_

They once again tried to win the crowd over on the chorus before doing the routine from the video when a bartender handed them broom sticks.

_Hey Britney, you say you wanna lose control_  
_ Come over here I got somethin' to show ya_  
_ Sexy lady, I'd rather see you bare your soul_  
_ If you think you're so hot, better show me what you got_  
_ All my people in the crowd, let me see you dance_  
_ C'mon Britney lose control, watch you take it down_

_ Get on the floor, baby lose control_  
_ Just work your body and let it go_  
_ If you wanna party, just grab somebody_  
_ Hey Britney_  
_ We can dance all night long_

They went through the routine perfectly, until the end of the dance when they were inches away from one another's faces. Santana took a ragged breath as her eyes flickered from Brittany's lips to her eyes and back to her lips, before landing on her eyes again, which were now a dark shade of blue. The music stopped as all eyes were on the two women. Santana had her arms on Brittany's shoulder, while Brittany had her hands on the Latina's waist.

_I hope she kisses me._

_I think she's going to kiss me._

_Damn her lips._

_She smells amazing._

_What the fuck?_

_Why did I agree to this?_

_I can't._

_I want too._

_Maybe I can._

Someone in the bar sneezed, Santana blinked and shook her head before letting go of Brittany quickly and taking a giant stop back. "Ummm, good job."

"Yeah, you too." Brittany mumbled as she shook her head when the bar erupted in applause.

"I'm going home." Santana told Mercedes while grabbing her purse and blazer and heading outside.

* * *

**Thoughts?**


	3. Chapter 3

Santana woke up when she felt a warm body next to her, and the arm around her waist pull her closer. She sighed and opened her eyes, immediately freezing when her eyes settled on the blonde hair in her face. _Oh shit._ She thought to herself before slamming her eyes shut and going over the events of the night when she left the bar. _Ok, I took a bunch of shots, and went beer for beer with Puck._ She felt a kiss on the neck before the body turned over and grabbed her arm, to pull it over their waist. _Then I had a dance off with the girl across the hall. She smelled so amazing, she was sweating and still smelled so damn good. I think I almost kissed her or she tried to kiss me, whatever happened I was able to smell her breath which was laced with peppermint schnapps._ _I turned and left quickly, I remember hearing someone call my name and a hand grab me, but that's the last thing I can recall. Damn tequila shooters!_ She opened one eye and stared again at the blonde head in front of her, she slowly moved her hand up and down their stomach, letting her fingers graze over every abdominal muscles in their six pack, before she realized she was touching bare skin. _Shit, are we naked?_ She slowly lifted the covers, and noticed she was indeed naked, and so was the woman in front of her.

Santana sighed and put the cover back down as the blonde turned back over. "Good morning baby." Quinn smiled as she kissed her on the lips quickly.

"Quinn?" Santana asked almost disappointed.

"Yeah, who else would it be?" Quinn asked angrily.

"Why are you here?" Santana asked. "Fuck, did we have sex last night?" She asked while getting out of bed, and rummaging through the pile of clothes on her floor for a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt.

"What's with you?" Quinn frowned. "No we didn't have sex, actually." She snapped.

"Why are you here, naked in my bed?" Santana asked while running her fingers through her hair and pulling it into a ponytail.

"You called me, extremely drunk, last night, well this morning, and asked me to come over." Quinn stated while standing up and angrily putting her clothes back on. "I came over, and you were blasting Britney Spears and Madonna, on your phone, you got pissy because I don't know the lame routine from the video, and you ended up passing out, mumbling the lyrics."

"I was drunk, you shouldn't have come over." I shrug. "I think we need some space."

"What?" Quinn asked quickly. "Who is Brittany?" She then asked.

"Who?" Santana sighed while grabbing a pair of socks to put on.

"Who the hell is Brittany?" Quinn asked while getting in Santana's face. "Are you cheating on me?"

"We aren't a couple!" Santana yelled. "Why don't you understand that?"

"Who the hell is Brittany?" Quinn asked again. "You said her name over and over all night in your sleep, and you fuckin moaned her name at one point."

"B-Britney Spears." Santana stuttered. "You said I was blasting her song when you got here, so it was just in my brain and my subconscious." She shrugged.

"If you can't respect me, then don't call me to come over." Quinn snapped.

"Just go home." Santana told her. "Look, I need some space, let's get through finals this week and go from there."  
"Fuck you Santana." Quinn snapped. "When I find out who this fuckin Brittany is that you're fantasizing over, she will regret it." She added before walking out of the bedroom.

Santana sat on the floor and picked up her phone. She saw a text from Mercedes and opened it.

**FROM Mercedes: You looked good on the dance floor last night, look at the performance.**

Santana watched the performance of her and Brittany dancing over and over for the better part of thirty minutes. Damn. She thought to herself before laying back in bed, with her earbuds in and Me Against The Music playing.

* * *

"Brittany you're late." Bieste, the owner of the diner said loudly as Brittany rushed out on the floor, tying her apron behind her back.

"Sorry." Brittany said apologetically and quickly.

"You're one of my most reliable workers, and you've only been here for about a month, don't let this other imbeciles rub their bad habits off on you." Brittany nodded quickly. "Take this to table seven, and clear tables three, four, and eight."

"It won't happen again Bieste." Brittany nodded while grabbing the tray and walking the food over. "Enjoy your meals." She smiled to the couple. "Anything else I can grab for you?"

"I think we're all set." The older gentlemen nodded. "Thanks."

Brittany nodded in return and went to start collecting dished from the empty tables when Rachel and Mike walked in the diner. "Hey Brittany." Rachel waved before hugging her tightly.

"Hey guys, grab a table in this section." She smiled. "I'll be right back with menus."

Brittany quickly cleared the tables and wiped off the tables before bringing over two menus to Rachel and Mike. "Last night was fun." Mike stated as Brittany set down waters in front of them.

"Yes!" Rachel nodded. "We need to do that again, maybe invite your neighbors. Mercedes was so fun last night, you were right, she's really nice and approachable."

"Santana's not too bad." Mike laughed. "She was nice to me at least, and she kicked ass in the dance battle, I mean of course, you won, but I didn't expect her to hold her own the way she did."

_She did a great job last night_. Brittany thought to herself, before shaking her head. "She did okay, well fine, she's a good dancer, but her attitude sucks, I don't want to hang out with her ever again, but Mercedes I would love to hang out with." _I wouldn't be all the way pissed if she brought Santana with her, as long as she stays quiet, I can just stare at her, she is gorgeous._

"Brittany!" Rachel snapped.

Brittany shook her head from her thoughts. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said I'll take the grilled asparagus and the salmon." Rachel smiled. "Where's your head?"

"Just thinking about a painting I want to start." Brittany smiled. "What about you Mike?"

"The steak burger sounds good, and onion rings." He stated while pulling his phone out of his pocket. "This is my roommate, be right back ladies."

"Coke?" She asked him.

"Cherry coke." He winked before stepping out of the diner.

"He's into you again, he's been talking about you all morning." Rachel smiled as Brittany scribbled down their orders.

"Nah." Brittany shook her head.

"Brittany! Table 10!" Bieste yelled loudly.

"Fuck, I gotta make rounds." Brittany told her.

"So you aren't into Mike at all anymore?" Rachel asked with a slight frown before her eyes lit up. "Shit! Is there someone else?" She asked loudly.

"I'm at work Rach, keep it down." Brittany snapped before laughing. "No, there isn't anyone else, I just got to the city, I want to just take it easy and focus on school."

"Keep in mind, Chicago gets cold." Rachel laughed. "A warm body on cold nights, won't be too bad; and I'll take a diet Coke."

Brittany rolled her eyes and took their order to the kitchen before tending to her other tables. She began to hum Me Against the Music before shaking her head. _Why can't I get this damn song out of my head._ She took a deep breath as she started to wipe down the counter.

By the end of Brittany's shift, she was exhausted, and couldn't be any more ready to go home for the afternoon. She leaned against the counter, staring at the clock until it turned eight; she ran in the back and grabbed her bag. She waved goodbye to everyone and checked her schedule for the next week, taking a picture of it with her camera, before running to the bus stop, hoping to make the bus.

Once Brittany got back to her apartment, she instantly laid down on her air mattress, with Lord Tubbington on her chest. She was just about to close her eyes when she heard a knock on the door. She groaned but stood up and went to the door when she saw a white sheet of paper slide under the door and to her feet.

She frowned but picked it up and saw it was an invitation to a roof top party next weekend, all food and liquor was provided, and the cover was five dollars. She shrugged and set it on her kitchen counter. She made herself a sandwich and filled her water bottle. She looked out at the sky, as the sun started to set slowly. She picked up the stack of movies she rented from the Red Box and debated watching one, before setting it down. "Let's go check out the roof." She told the kitten as she picked him up.

* * *

**Midnight**

Santana woke up from her late study break nap, ready to tackle the her Economics notes again when she faintly heard someone singing. She walked to her open window and listened for a few minutes, before realizing it was someone on the roof of her their building. She grabbed her keys and left the apartment, passing my Mercedes, who was asleep with her History book on her lap in the living room.

As she walked the flight of stairs to the roof, she saw a woman sitting on a blanket, candles surrounding her, a small kitten curled to the side of her. She focused her eyes and saw it was Brittany, softly strumming a guitar while singing.

_The time is right, I'm gonna pack my bags_  
_And take that journey down the road_  
_'Cause over the mountain I see the bright sun shining_  
_And I want to live inside the glow, yeah, yeah_  
_I wanna go to a place where I am nothing and everything_  
_That exists between here and nowhere_  
_I wanna go to a place where time has no consequences, oh yeah_  
_The sky opens to my prayers_

Santana froze and hid behind the wall, she watched Brittany continued to strum and sing, full of emotion.

_I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful_  
_I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful_  
_I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful_  
_I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful_

Santana began to nod her head to the music as Brittany began a long guitar solo before stopping and taking a long sip from a water bottle. She rubbed the kitten's head and began to sing again, while strumming and hitting her palm on the guitar inbetween cords.

_Please understand that its not that I don't care_  
_But right know these walls are closing in on me_  
_I love you more than I love life itself_  
_But I need to find a place where I can breathe, I can breathe_  
_I wanna go to a place where I can hold the intangible_  
_And let go of the pain with all my might_  
_I wanna go to a place where I am suspended in ecstasy_  
_Some where between dark and light, where wrong becomes right_

Santana stared at how sad Brittany looked as she sang, and noticed the tears streaming down her eyes, she took a step back to go back in the building, and tripped over a bucket.

Brittany heard the noise and set her guitar down. "Hello?" She called out as she stood up with her kitten and walked slowly towards the noise. "Hello?"

Santana quickly straightened up and wiped her eyes before putting on her best bitch face. "What the hell are you doing up here? This is me and Cedes rooftop."

Brittany rolled her eyes and went back to her original spot. "Do you pay the rent for this space too?"

Santana froze. "Well no, but we always have our parties up here, and they are strictly invite only."

Brittany shrugged. "Are you having a party right now?"

"You and your smart mouth and getting on my last damn nerve." Santana snapped.

"When you have a party, I'll make sure I'm not around, until then, get lost." Brittany smiled at her before starting to stroke the kittens back.

Santana scoffed and walked back towards the building. "This is my bucket, so find another way to prop the door open." She added as she lifted the bucket, causing the door to slam.

Brittany rolled her eyes and walked towards the door, realizing she was now locked on the roof. "Fuck!" She screamed as she pulled out her phone and texted Mercedes.

Santana walked in the apartment, to Mercedes who was glaring at her. "Really?" She rolled her eyes. "Go let her back in the building."

"Who?" Santana asked as she went to her bedroom, with Mercedes on her heels.

"Santana, go let Brittany back in the building, she just texted me and said you locked her on the roof." Mercedes stated.

"Why do you have her number?" Santana asked angrily.

"You have a crush on her, I can tell, you're a bitch to everyone you like." Mercedes laughed. "No wonder you ran out of the bar last night."

"Go to hell." Santana snapped. "I don't like her, and I left because I had too many drinks and was ready to lie down."

"Yeah ok." Mercedes laughed. "Come on, San, don't make an enemy in the building, go let the girl back in."

Santana sighed and rolled her eyes before walking back up to the roof, she opened the door. "Sorry." She stated while piling up a few bricks to hold the door open.

Brittany glared at her but didn't respond.

"Whatever." Santana shrugged.

"You're a terrible person." Brittany hissed.

"You don't know shit about me that make that assumption." Santana snapped. "I think you're a horrible person actually, you made a terrible ass first impression, you were rude to me first."

Brittany stared at Santana and stood up. "You were banging on my door like a crazy person, I thought you were on drugs!"

"I asked for salt!" Santana yelled back. "I smiled and asked for fuckin salt, and you went all incredible hulk, and yelled and shit."

"Do me a favor and just stay out of my way around here." Brittany snapped.

"Fine by me." Santana replied as she took a step closer to Brittany.

"Fine by me." Brittany mimicked.

_Damn her lips. _They locked eyes before Santana leaned up to kiss Brittany, but Mercedes came outside, causing Santana to jump back.

"I let her in, like you asked." Santana replied as she pushed past Brittany and walked in the building.

Brittany licked her lips and blinked slowly, before turning to face Mercedes. "Thanks for having her let me back in."

"No problem." Mercedes smiled. "I just came back up to make sure you two weren't boxing up here."

Brittany laughed slightly. "I have a temper, a bad one, so I can't let myself get that upset, it's not good for anyone, so tell your friend to stop testing me." She stated sternly.

Mercedes swallowed thickly and nodded. "I, I, uh, I sure will." She watched Brittany sit down on her blanket again. "Was that you singing up here earlier?"

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, I'm not that good of a singer, but I love playing and with the weather being so nice tonight, I thought I would could play a little, did I disturb you?"

"Not at all." Mercedes smiled. "You're pretty good."

"I'm okay." Brittany laughed. "But thank you."

"Is that an original song?" Mercedes asked while Brittany nodded, she picked up the kitten rubbed his back. "Can you sing the first verse again?"

"Really?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah, I mean I don't want to over step my bounds, but I've taken some music classes, and I think it you switch a cord or two, it'll mellow the song out a little more." Mercedes smiled as Lord Tubbington started to climb up her chest.

Brittany shrugged. "Okay."

___The time is right, I'm gonna pack my bags_  
_And take that journey down the road_  
_'Cause over the mountain I see the bright sun shining_  
_And I want to live inside the glow, yeah, yeah_  
_I wanna go to a place where I am nothing and everything_  
_That exists between here and nowhere_  
_I wanna go to a place where time has no consequences, oh yeah_  
_The sky opens to my prayers_

"Ok, so right after they first _yeah, yeah_ take a small pause, and maybe a small guitar riff and start the next part" Mercedes told her.

Brittany resang the first verse with the adjustment. "That does flow better." She smiled at Mercedes. "Thanks."

Santana sat on the floor next to her window and listened to Brittany sing the song over and over with Mercedes help, completely forgetting about her studying.

* * *

**One week later**

"Come on, let's go the party." Rachel whined while playing with Lord Tubbington as Brittany sketched a drawing.

"Go for it." Brittany told her while glancing over her shoulder briefly before focusing her eyes back on the easel she was lying on the floor drawing.

"Don't you want to go?" Rachel asked.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"I'm busy." Brittany replied.

"Come on Brit, wasn't last week fun?" Rachel whined again. "It's literally just 13 steps away."

"I'm not paying five dollars to get on the roof, that I use for free daily." Brittany stated simply.

"You are paying for the experience, food, and liquor." Rachel laughed while looking at the flyer again.

"I have beer in the fridge, and don't say it's not the kind you like, because you brought it over here." Brittany laughed.

"Well, my ten dollar bill says we're going." Rachel stated. "Get up and get dressed."

Brittany rolled her eyes and stood up. "If I go, will you be quiet?"

"Yep." Rachel nodded.

Twenty minutes later, Brittany was dressed in a pair of extremely short and tight blue jean shorts, an American flag tank top, her hair in loose curls, and a pair of aviator shades on her face.

"Let's go." She sighed to Rachel who was already running out the door.

Santana and Mercedes' roof top party was in full swing, with most of their neighbors in attendance. They had a peer bong table set up, Puck was DJing on his ipod, there were kegs of beer and bottles of vodka everywhere.

Santana was sitting by the door, a red plastic cup in her hand, and a shot glass in the other. She had on blue jean shorts, and a white tank top with a pair of lips in red glitter on it, she had red converse sneaker, and her hair was in a high bun on the top of her head.

"Here babe." Quinn said while handing her a burger.

"Thanks, and stop calling me babe." Santana sighed before rolling her eyes. She quickly took the shot and set the glass down before picking up her burger and taking a bite.

Rachel and Brittany walked out on the roof and looked around.

"Five buck a piece, losers." Santana smiled while holding out her hand and wiggling her fingers.

Rachel scoffed and threw the ten dollar bill at her before grabbing Brittany's hand and pulling her through the party. Brittany locked eyes with Santana before turning her head and following her over to where Mercedes was talking to a group of people.

"Whoa!" Mercedes smiled. "I didn't think you two were coming." She said happily while hugging them both. "Food is to the left, drinks in the corner. Actually, just follow me, I'll introduce you to a few people."

After making rounds with Mercedes, Rachel and Brittany were seated on two crates in the corner, balancing their plates on their laps while they ate, red plastic cups in at their feet, full of a liquor filled punch that Mercedes gave them.

Santana began to walk around and mingle with the guests, Quinn on her heels. "Damn, Q, give me a little space."

"She's here, isn't she?" Quinn asked angrily.

"Who?" Santana asked when she stopped walking and turned to face her.

"The bitch in your dream from the other night!" Quinn screamed causing the rest of the party to turn and stare at the pair.

"I'm not your girlfriend, so I can't cheat on you." Santana said slowly. "If you want a scene, I'll give you a scene, but trust me Fabray you don't want to go there with me today, so I advice you to back the hell up now."

Mercedes nodded to Puck to turn the music back on and went over to Quinn, whispering something in her ear while grabbing Santana's hand as she tried to walk away. Quinn nodded and went in the building while Santana went to the drink table, grabbed a beer and walked to an isolated part of the of the roof.

"Care to dance." A tall guy asked Rachel.

She glanced at Brittany, who nodded to her with a smile. "Of course." Rachel nodded while standing as the man led her to the middle of the roof where people were starting to dance again.

Brittany finished her burger and tossed her and Rachel's trash in the garbage, before heading towards the drink table. She noticed Santana sitting on the ground, holding her beer between her legs, that were bent at the knee, her head against the wall, and her eyes were closed. Brittany grabbed her beer and and two jello shots off the table and walked over to her and sat down next her.

"Quinn, I swear to God." She sighed before opening her eyes and noticing it was Brittany next to her. "Look blondie, I'm not up for a witty argument with you right now."

"Good, because I came to extend a peace offering." Brittany shrugged while setting the jello shot down, and moved to get up.

"Wait." Santana said quickly while grabbing Brittany's wrist, earning a glare from the blonde. "Sorry for grabbing you, just, um, don't leave."

Brittany nodded and sat back down. "Are you okay? I've lived here almost two months, and this is the quietest I've ever seen you." She teased.

Santana raised her eyebrow and smirked. "Let's just take the shot."

After knocking back their jello shot, Santana knocked back the rest of her beer. "I'm going to grab another, stay here." She told Brittany while standing up. "Please."

Brittany nodded. "Ok."

Santana jogged quickly to the table and came back with two handfuls of drinks, setting them down.

"_A drink_ or some drinks." Brittany laughed.

"This is for both of us." Santana shrugged.

"Thanks." Brittany smiled.

"You play the same song every night at midnight on your guitar." Santana said after several minutes of silence. "Why?" Brittany grew quiet and chugged her beer. "I don't think it's bad, I mean I really like it, I'm just curious." Santana asked.

"It describes how I feel every night." Brittany said quietly. "How I've felt every night since I was five years old and my mother died."

"My mother died when I was young too." Santana replied. "Shit sucks, right?"

Brittany turned and looked at her. "Yeah, shit sucks."

"The song made me think of my mom when I first heard you sing it, that day I was on the roof." Santana admitted. "Songs and shit don't really affect me, but yours did."

Brittany turned and looked at her. "What's the beautiful place you want to go?"

Santana shrugged. "I don't yet, but my current life sure as hell isn't it." She chuckled. "What's yours?" Santana asked while opening two more beers and handing Brittany one.

"Thanks." Brittany nodded before taking a sip. "I guess my beautiful is a life where I have a family."

Santana stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I grew up in the system, a foster child being bounced from family to family." Brittany stated.

"Oh." Santana whispered.

"I don't want your pity." Brittany said defensively.

"You weren't going to get it." Santana snapped back. "I just understand."

Brittany sighed as they both sat in silence staring straight ahead, glancing at one another in between takes sips of beer.

"Can you sing a little of the song right now?" Santana asked.

Brittany nodded and cleared her throat before singing softly.

_I wanna go to place where I am nothing and everything_  
_That exists between here and nowhere_  
_I wanna got to a place where time has no consequence oh yeah_  
_The sky opens to my prayers_

Santana nodded and started to sing with Brittany on the chorus.

_I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,  
I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,  
I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,  
I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_

Brittany stopped singing as Santana continued to sing her song, she watched as a few tears streamed out of Santana's eye. "How do you know the words?"

"I'm not a creep or anything." Santana said quickly. "But I listen to you sing it every night, and I guess I just learned them that way."

Brittany nodded and hesitantly reached to wipe Santana's tears away, Santana flinched but relaxed and wiped her own face. "You have a beautiful voice."

"Thanks, I take after my mom, she was a singer." Santana said proudly. She started to say something else to Brittany when she noticed Puck punching a guy. "God damn it!" She groaned and she jumped up and stared to run, but stopped and turned around. "Thanks for the song, and the talk." She winked at Brittany before going to help break up the fight.

_Gross I like her._ Brittany thought to herself as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

* * *

**Thoughts?**

**The song that Brittany sang is Indie Arie x Beautiful**


	4. Chapter 4

**As always, thanks for all the follows, faves, and reviews on the story.**

* * *

Even after the cordial, and almost sweet moment Brittany and Santana shared on the roof during the party, the two weren't exactly best friends; in fact aside from the occasional nod of the head or a small _hey_ when passing each other in the hall or in the lobby, the two didn't speak at all. Brittany began to think maybe she shouldn't have shared with Santana that her mother passed, and began to chastise herself since the feisty Latina was actually talking to her and not yelling at her on the roof. Santana on the other hand thought that she creeped Brittany out by singing her song to her, and breaking one of her most prized cardinal rules, _don't cry in front of anyone._

Due to Brittany's rather demanding schedule at the diner, she had to quit the bookstore after only a few short weeks. While she enjoyed the notion of getting the opportunity to read books for free, she was enjoying her tips from the diner, and from bartending much more. Even though it was a long shot, she secretly hoped that Santana would by chance come in the diner during her shift or maybe appear at the bar while she was worked, but the Latina beauty never did. Brittany began to paint more the void of boredom and slight loneliness during the day, since Rachel started her summer classes she wasn't able to come to Brittany's side of town as often as she wanted to. Mike joined a summer football league and was busy with practice and meetings alongside his job at the music store. So that left Brittany with Lord Tubbington, her guitar, and the roof to hang out every night in the warm weather.

Santana spent her summer working at an ice cream shop not too far from their apartment building. She partied and hung out with Mercedes as often as possible, easily since the two were roommates. Mercedes began to spend more time with Sam, as the days went on and the two of them explored taking their friendship to the next step. Santana found herself daydreaming about Brittany at work when she didn't have a rush of screaming kids, and horny teenagers groping one another in the ice cream shop, and even brought home a pint of rainbow sherbet to give Brittany, but decided that was too _gay _and gave it to the homeless man in front of the building, the next day she brought home a pint of lime sherbet but lost her nerve and ate it herself.

It was a scorching hot Wednesday night around 9pm when Santana finally got home, Chicago was in the middle of a heat wave, and conveniently their building didn't have air conditioning. Mercedes and Santana pooled their money together two years ago and bought a window unit, but after it broke, they didn't bother to purchase a new one, and instead relied on fans on all sizes and shapes to keep the apartment cool. Most of the tenants in the building that were in their same situation, no air conditioning, either left the building for the weekend or stayed gone most of the day, finding cooler places to occupy their time. Santana bought two pints of ice cream home, one for herself and the other for Mercedes, with the plans to lay under her fan and go to sleep where she could dream of dancing ice cream cones and Popsicles, which she dreamed about the night before. She glanced at Brittany's door before walking in the apartment, wondering where the blonde was since she hadn't heard her singing in a few days.

"Cedes!" Santana yelled as she walked in the apartment. "Yo bitch, where are you?" She laughed. "I got ice cream so we don't melt away."

She dropped her messenger bag and took her ear buds out of her ears as she walked deeper in the apartment and looked around. She went to Mercedes's bedroom and saw it was completely, the only movement coming from the ceiling fan whirring over her head. She then went to the bathroom and opened the door, once again disappointed. She finally went back to the kitchen, where she saw a note under a magnet on the fridge.

_I escaped to Sam's apartment to beat the heat,_

_swallow your pride and go to Quinn's apartment, where her air conditioning is working._

_I'll be back in the morning._

_*Cedes_

"Quinn can kiss my ass." Santana muttered as she opened the freezer and tossed the ice cream in. "Time to shower and relax I guess." She shrugged as she made her way to the bathroom.

After the roof party, one in which Quinn got extremely drunk, she and Santana got in a huge argument when the blonde tried to drive home. Santana attempted to take her car keys and told Quinn to sleep in her bed, while she would take the couch but Quinn became resistant and after a physical struggle to get the car keys from her, Santana had Puck drive Quinn back to her apartment to make sure she made it home safely. Santana stayed awake until Puck called her with the all clear that Quinn was safe at home, before lying in bed staring at the ceiling all night. The two hadn't spoken since aside from passing hostile messages through Mercedes, who was fed up with the bickering and chose to remain neutral.

* * *

Brittany was lying on the floor of her living room, all of the lights in the apartment off listening to a book on tape with her Audible app on her phone; Lord Tubbington was resting on her chest, fast asleep. Brittany sighed and slowly lifted the cold wet towel she had on her shoulder and dabbed it on her forehead before blowing softly on the kitten's head, hoping to cool him off as well. Even with every window open as wide as they could go throughout the apartment, Brittany was burning up hot and uncomfortable.

"I thought Chicago was the _windy_ city, a cool breeze would help right now." She told the kitten, who stirred at was now staring at her. "I'm just trying to cool you off." She laughed when she blew on the kitten again and he rubbed his paw on his head and laid back down with a sigh.

Getting bored with the book after a few chapters, Brittany turned the app off and went to the kitchen to grab the bottle of water she put in the freezer earlier and laid back down, picking up a magazine she found in the lobby of the apartment building and began to fan herself in between sips of the ice water and running the bottle over her forehead. She had already taken 2 cold showers to cool off and was only dressed in a white sports bra, and yellow soccer shorts but still felt like she was on fire.

She was looking out the window daydreaming when she heard a hesitant knock on her door, followed by a more confident one a few moments later. Brittany frowned since she knew Rachel was busy tonight, and Mike was at work. She slowly stood up and quietly walked to the door to look out the peephole. She saw Santana rocking on her heels holding a brown paper bag tightly in her hand, she was wearing black flip flops, a pair of black spandex shorts, and a Bob Marley tank top, her hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head, and she kept wiping her forehead with her arm, then shaking her arm in disgust with a frown on her face.

Brittany took a deep breath and opened the door slowly. Santana took in the sweat beads slowly rolling down Brittany's neck and slide between her breasts, her flushed filled cheeks from the heat, and her glistening arms; she swallowed thickly.

"Oh, are you working out or something?" Santana asked as she watched a bead of sweat travel from Brittany's forehead down her neck, and crash between her breasts again.

Brittany frowned, then realized how much she was sweating. "Oh, no. I'm just hot as hell."

_Yeah you are._ Santana thought to herself before nodding. "Yeah it's fuckin ridiculous outside right now. I haven't heard you singing in a few days, and just wanted to make sure you were alive still."

Brittany raised her eyebrow while laughing. "I'm very much alive, thanks."

"Cool." Santana nodded. "Well, um, have a good night."

"You too." Brittany smiled politely before closing the door in the Latina's face.

Santana took a step back from shock and knocked again, Brittany opened the door again slowly and poked her head out.

"It feels like a sauna when you open your door." Santana frowned. "You should open a window or turn on your fans, or you won't be _very_ much alive for too much longer." She added before turning and walking back to her apartment.

"I don't have a fan." Brittany told her as she opened the door wider, exposing Lord Tubbington at her feet.

Santana turned around. "Why not?"

"I just don't." Brittany shrugged. They stood in their respective doorways and stared at one another in silence. "I don't know if I said it but thanks for the invite to the party, after the fight I didn't see you again."

Santana shrugged. "Sure, you're a tenant, and the whole building was invited, not like I personally invited you or anything."

"Whatever." Brittany replied before starting to close her door again.

Santana then remembered the bag in her hand. "Oh shit, I forgot, I work at an ice cream shop and um, here." She stated while taking a step forward and holding the bag out to Brittany. "Vanilla okay?"

Brittany stepped out of the apartment, making sure not to step on the kitten and took the bag. "Yeah, it is. Thanks, how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing." Santana shook her head. "I get free ice cream every day, and Cedes isn't here, so you can have hers." _Mainly since I gave yours to the homeless man downstairs the other day. "_It's hot and you can use it help you cool down."

"I have to give you something, hold on let me grab my wallet." Brittany told her while setting the bag down and disappearing into the dark apartment. Santana shuffled back and forth on her heels, while staring at the kitten, who looked back at her wearily, while waiting for Brittany to return, just so she could refuse the money. "Here's a five." Brittany told. "Can't be more than that, right?'

"Seriously, don't worry about it." Santana told her, ignoring Brittany's outstretched hand. "I just don't want or need to eat two pints myself tonight." Brittany nodded and stuffed her money in her shorts pocket. "You may want to eat it right away, it may melt in that sweat box you call an apartment." Santana smiled as she walked back in her apartment and closed the door. She leaned on the back of the door and sighed. _Why am I being so nice to her?_

Brittany closed the door behind her and went back to her original position on the floor. She opened the bag slowly and took out the pint of ice cream and set it on the floor with a small smile. She noticed a pink plastic spoon and tossed that on the floor as well, she was about to crumple the bag when she noticed writing on the back of the _Chi-Cream _pink and white postcard. She grabbed it from the bag and read the card quietly to herself.

_If you don't like it, I think the homeless guy in the lobby likes ice cream._

_Santana_

Brittany laughed at the note and set it on her air mattress. She then took the top off and saw a letter B in chocolate syrup, which immediately caused her to blush. She took a picture of it with her phone and tossed her phone on the floor next to her. _Ok so maybe she's not that bad. I mean, she did bring me ice cream, who cares if it was really for Mercedes, she clearly added the "B" herself. _After half the carton, and cooling down only slightly, Brittany re-wet her towel with cold water from the faucet and began to run it over her forehead again. She turned her audio book back on and listened to a few more chapters before she decided to just go to sleep.

* * *

Over the next few days, the intense heat wave continued to plague the city, and every evening at like clockwork at 9pm, Brittany would hear two slow knocks on her door, and would find a pint of a different flavor ice cream on her door step in a brown paper bag, each complete with a pink plastic spoon, and a message from Santana on the back, telling her the flavor and reminding her the homeless man downstairs likes ice cream if she didn't like the flavor. Santana ventured into different flavor syrups to compliment the flavor she picked for Brittany. So far Brittany had been gifted cotton candy ice cream with a raspberry "B", lemonade ice cream with a strawberry "B", cappuccino with a caramel "B".

It was Tuesday night at 9pm, exactly one week after Santana first extended the olive branch, well in her case the ice cream _branch_; Brittany stepped out of the shower and quickly got dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She worked a double shift at the diner and just got home after a twelve-hour shift at 8pm. She decided to treat herself and ordered a pizza for dinner, her plan was to binge on her pizza and go straight to bed, but when she heard her _ice cream knock_ on the door, she changed her mind. She made her way to the door just in time to see Santana close the door to her own apartment. Brittany picked up the brown paper bag and closed her own apartment door, she placed the bag in the freezer for the time being and patting her hair to get the excess water out. She was adding fresh cold water to Lord Tubbington's bowl when there was another knock on her door. She glanced at the time on her phone and knew it was her pizza.

After tipping the man, since she paid online with her debit card, she set the pizza on her counter and grabbed a pair of shoes to put on. She then grabbed her keys and phone, stuffing them in her pocket and left the apartment, her pizza in one hand and the ice cream in the other. She walked across the hall and knocked on Santana's door slowly, a few moments later she heard the chain moving and the locks turning before the door opened.

"Something wrong with the ice cream?" Santana asked with a frown when she saw the bag in Brittany's hand.

"No." Brittany shook her head quickly. "I just wanted to thank you for all the ice cream the past week, I know you said you get it for free, but still."

"Oh, it's no big deal." Santana said as she glanced back in her apartment nervously while taking a step back.

Brittany noticed the inflection in her voice and frowned slightly. "I came to offer you some pizza, as a thank you as well." Santana opened the door wider, a small smile crossed her face when she saw the white box in Brittany's hand.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that." Santana shrugged.

Once the Latina stepped out of the shadowy apartment, and the light from the hallway hit her face slightly, Brittany saw how red and glossy her eyes were, and how flushed she looked as she wrung her wrists together.

"Is it a bad time?" Brittany asked carefully. "I mean, are you okay?"

Santana nodded slowly then shrugged. "It doesn't matter, we can go up to the roof, is that okay?"

Brittany could tell the Latina wasn't okay, this was a side of Santana she'd never seen before. Sure she saw Santana start to recoil into herself during the roof top party, but this looked one hundred times worse, and she was almost concerned, but she didn't know why she cared so much.

"Yeah, whatever works for you." Brittany nodded.

"Ok, I'll be up in a few minutes. I'll grab some sodas for us." Santana told her. "Does your cat need like a water bottle or anything?" She then asked softly. "He's little and stuff."

"No, he's in my apartment still, he's okay." Brittany told her as she made her up to the roof door.

Santana went back in the apartment and quickly went to the bathroom; she stared at her reflection in the mirror and took in her tired, sad eyes, which were complete with dark bags underneath them. She shook her head slowly before turning on the faucet and reaching for her face wash. She quickly scrubbed her face and dabbed it dry on the towel next to the sink, she then brushed her teeth, and put her long dark locks in to a loose ponytail. _This will have to do._ She sighed as she turned off the light and went to her bedroom, grabbing a Nike baseball cap to put on her head. She scribbled a note for Mercedes, in case she came home, before getting two Sprites out of the fridge, and snatching her keys off the hook by the door.

She walked out on the roof, and was surprised by the cool breeze wafting through the air. She spotted Brittany, sitting off in the corner, on a blanket, the pizza box in front of her, she had her eyes trained on her cell phone as she typed quickly. Santana walked over to her slowly, not wanting to startle her.

"Sprite okay?" She asked.

Brittany looked up. "Sure, I'm not picky when it comes to soda."

"Good, because it's all we have." Santana mumbled as she sat down.

"It's just pepperoni and cheese, hope that's okay." Brittany told her while she watched Santana's small frame, curl into herself, as she drew her knees up to her chest.

"Whatever." Santana mumbled as she shrugged and picked up a slice and took a small bite.

_Well this is fun_. Brittany rolled her eyes and took a bite herself, growing uncomfortable with the awkward silence between the two of them. She stared at Santana as the Latina, took a few bites and tossed her crust on the lid of the box and rested her head on her knees. She heard her take a deep breath before lifting her head back and reaching for another slice.

"Are you okay?" Brittany asked.

"I'm fine." Santana replied quickly.

"I don't think you are." Brittany countered softly.

"I just had a shitty day." Santana shrugged. "Thanks for the pizza, but I think I'm going to just go back to my place and lay down." She stood up and dusted the crumbs off her t-shirt.

"Well, take a few slices." Brittany told her while holding up the box.

"No thanks." Santana told her as she shook her head and started to walk towards the door.

"Santana!" Brittany called after her; the Latina had her hand on the door handle and paused. "When I have a shitty day, I hate when I have to spend it alone, but then again I never have a choice. If you stay out here, so you're not alone, I won't talk to you, if you don't want to talk. But if you do want to talk, we can. I'm just saying that you have a choice of not being alone." _God, did that even make sense._

Santana stared at the door as Brittany's words sank in, and she turned around slowly. "Can we just sit in silence?" _Because I really don't want to be alone, but don't know how to tell you that, considering we really aren't friends, we just aren't enemies anymore._

"Yeah." Brittany nodded as she picked up another slice and took a bite, before setting it down and opening her soda.

Santana debated going back in the building and going to bed, she glanced at Brittany, and saw the blonde basically in her own world again, staring at her cell phone while eating. _I guess not being alone would be a good idea right now._ She let go of the handle and walked back over to Brittany and sat back down. Brittany silently turned the pizza box towards her again and took another bite herself. Brittany continued to stare at her phone as Santana picked up another slice and took a bite.

Thirty minutes and more than half a pizza later, the two still hadn't said a word, Brittany keeping her promise and Santana not knowing what to say in general. Brittany pulled a lighter out of her pocket and reached for the huge three wick candle she kept outside for her late night guitar sessions and lit it. She set it down on the aluminum pie pan she kept it on and slid it to the side of her, giving her a face a glow since the sun had just about set.

Santana silently picked up the pizza box. "Umm, are you finished or should I toss it?"

"You can toss it." Brittany told her as she scooted back so she was resting her back on the wall.

Santana carried the trash over to the garbage can and carefully folded the box up before stuffing it inside. "Did you want to be alone?" She then asked Brittany. "I know you usually chill up her by yourself around this time."

Brittany shrugged. "I don't own the roof." She stated nonchalantly.

"Do you mind if I stay?" Santana asked hesitantly.

"Nope." Brittany replied as she focused on her phone again.

Santana pulled a brick out of the wall and grabbed a pack of cigarettes out quickly. _I hope she doesn't smoke because now she knows where my stash is._ "Smoke?"

"I stopped." Brittany shook her head.

"Oh." Santana nodded. "Mind if I smoke?

"Go for it." Brittany told her as Santana removed a different brick and grabbed a lighter quickly lighting the cigarette and taking a long drag. _I wonder what's wrong with her, I mean aside from the shitty day. _Brittany stared at Santana as she quickly took four more long drags, blowing the smoke straight in the air, before flicking the butt over the roof. She then pulled out a pack of tick tacks and tossed a few in her mouth before walking back over by Brittany and sitting down, taking her hat off in the process, and running her fingers through her hair as she let her ponytail down.

Brittany stared at how gorgeous and flawless she looked in the candlelight, but also picked up on the bags under her eyes and sadness in her soft features. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it quickly as Santana pulled her knees back up her chest and rested her forehead on her knees once again.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why do you bring me ice cream every day?" Brittany asked as she set her phone down. "You don't say anything or even stick around after knocking on the door, you just leave it, what if I'm not home?"

Santana didn't respond or even acknowledge that Brittany was speaking to her and instead just continued sitting still with her eyes closed and head resting on her knees. Brittany shrugged and picked up her phone again when she realized Santana wasn't going to answer. _I guess we still aren't talking, whatever._

Santana sniffled and lifted her head, this time resting it sideways so she could somewhat see Brittany's face. _Whoa, she looks beautiful in the candlelight._ "Your apartment felt like hell the day I went with ice cream the first day, you said you don't have a fan, so I figured it would help cool you off, I don't want to smell a damn dead body in the hallway, because you died from heat exhaustion or some shit like that."

"Why would you care if I died?" Brittany asked.

"Honestly, I don't." Santana snapped. "Like I said, I don't want to smell your body decomposing."

"Whatever." Brittany sighed.

Santana closed her eyes tightly and exhaled softly. "I don't mean to snap at you, sorry." She stated sincerely while lifting her head to fully look at Brittany. "Like I said I just…"

"Had a shitty day." Brittany finished for her. "It happens, don't worry about it. The ice cream did really help all week, so thanks." She added with a smile. "The letter B you put in every pint was a nice touch.

"Thanks for the pizza." Santana told her. "I didn't feel like cooking, or doing anything so, I probably just would have had some chips and went to bed." She locked eyes with Brittany and shivered slightly. "I only use the letter B so I know which one is yours, I like some weird flavors and combos; I don't want to mix it up."

"If you're cold, you can go back in." Brittany stated when she noticed the Latina shake slightly.

"I like being on the roof, makes me feel free, ya know?" Santana told her as she moved to sit next to Brittany, in the same manner they were sitting during the party.

Brittany glanced over at her and nodded in agreement. "I think that's why I like coming up here, it's quiet, I can just be myself, I can cry, scream, yell, laugh, sing….whatever."

"I like when you sing the most." Santana told her shyly. "I would hate to hear you cry up here." She added much quieter but Brittany still heard her.

"What's your outlet?" Brittany asked while taking a long sip of her soda and picking up her ice cream, she unwrapped her spoon and started to eat slowly.

Santana frowned. "Outlet?"

"Yeah, you were or probably still are, in a bad mood. If you weren't up here right now, not thinking about what pissed off, what would you be doing to, you know, take your mind off of it." Brittany asked her.

Santana glanced over at Brittany as she slid the spoon slowly out of her mouth. "Sleep." She stated while resting her head back on her knees, and facing Brittany, staring at how slowly she dipped her spoon in the ice cream, and brought it back to mouth, slowly parting her lips and pushing the ice cream in, then turning the spoon over as she slid it back out of her mouth. "I sleep things off, when I'm pissed, or upset, or whatever."

"Have you been sleep a lot lately?" Brittany asked her as she glanced down at her.

"Huh?" Santana scrunched up her face in confusion, Brittany felt her heart jump a little when she noticed the Latina's dimples. _Dimples have always been my weakness._

"Your girlfriend hasn't been around lately." Brittany replied.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Quinn's my best friend, not my girlfriend."

"Does she know that?" Brittany teased causing Santana to smile slightly.

"She knows, but doesn't care I guess." The Latina shrugged as she once again watched Brittany eat a spoonful of ice cream.

"Is that why you're in a bad mood?" Brittany asked. "I heard her screaming at you early this morning."

"No, she always yells and screams, it's what she does." Santana shook her head. "What's your outlet, singing?"

Brittany put the top back on her ice cream and shook her head as she stretched her legs out. "Drawing, sketching, anything art related."

"Cool." Santana yawned before closing her eyes briefly.

Brittany stood up and dusted her shorts off. "I was going to get my guitar, you don't have to skip around if you don't want."

"I'll be here." Santana told her, not making eye contact with her at all. _I would never miss the chance for an up close concert._

Brittany nodded and ran down to her apartment quickly, she grabbed her guitar, an extra blanket, two bottles of water and made her way back up the roof, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Santana was still in her original position, now staring at her cell phone. _Yes! She's still here._

When Santana heard Brittany approaching, she set her phone back down and hugged her legs again. "What's the extra blanket for?"

"Aren't you cold?" Brittany asked her. "You've been shivering, and don't try to deny it." She added while tossing the blanket at her.

Santana quickly wrapped it over her legs. "Thanks."

Brittany moved the candle and sat down Indian style next to her and started to strum softly. Santana exhaled deeply and buried her face in her hands as she let the soothingly melody Brittany was playing run through her body, she tried to clear her mind, but it was no use and the tears started to form again. Brittany glanced at her but continued to play while humming softly. Santana started to shake with tears, while exhaling slowly to calm herself down. Brittany took notice and stopped playing finally. _What the hell is going on? _She the guitar down and placed her hand hesitantly on Santana's back. She didn't speak, knowing that when she was upset and crying, she hated when people asked 'was she okay' or 'did she want to talk'; so she instead just sat there with her hand on the Latina's back, completely still._  
_

Once Santana calmed down she wiped her eyes and glanced at Brittany. "Thanks."

Brittany shrugged and picked the guitar back up and started to strum the same melody again. "Santana?" They both heard as the door of the roof opened. Brittany glanced at the blonde running quickly to her but continued strumming, and ignored her aside from a head nod to say hello. Quinn narrowed her eyes at Brittany with a slight glare before focusing on Santana with a small frown. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Q." She nodded.

"Let's go watch a movie until you fall asleep." Quinn smiled at her.

Santana nodded. "I'll be right in."

Quinn stared at Brittany, locking eyes with her before turning abruptly and going inside. Santana stood up and folded the blanket back up neatly, she set it next to Brittany and picked up her baseball cap. "Thanks for being around today, it's the anniversary of my mom dying, so it's usually hard for me. I just was hoping to hear you sing tonight from my bedroom window, but this was much better." She told her before turning to walk in the building.

Brittany stared at the door as it closed. _Glad to help._

* * *

**Thoughts?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the reviews so far on the story. :)**

* * *

"Santana, I'm leaving, I need to go home and get ready for work." Quinn said softly while rubbing the Latina's back.

Santana exhaled slowly and forced her eyes open. "Okay." She then nodded before closing her eyes again and snuggling deeper in her pillow. "Thanks for coming over last night." She added when she heard Quinn shuffling around her room, she slightly opened her eyes to peep at the blonde, as she changed out her the pajama shorts and t-shirt she slept in, and pulled her jeans back on.

"It's tradition." Quinn told her softly. "Ever since we've been freshman in highshool, on the anniversary on your mom's death, we watch the funniest movies we can think of to take your mind of it, until you fall asleep. I know we've been arguing lately but you're still my best friend, babe." She added while walking in Santana's closet and coming out with a plain pink t-shirt. "We'll keep the tradition going and get dinner tonight, and finish our marathon." She smiled as she leaned down and kissed Santana on the forehead, before testing her luck, and brushing Santana's lips with her own.

Santana nodded. "I don't work today, so call me when you get off."

"Ok, see you later." Quinn waved as she closed the Latina's bedroom door behind her.

After leaving Brittany on the roof, Santana went back to her apartment, where Quinn was waiting in her bedroom for her, a stack of DVDs on the bed, and all the junk food you could ever imagine. She excused herself a took a long shower, before putting on a small pair of shorts, and a long sleeve t-shirt. She laid in bed, while Quinn took her shower. Santana felt herself falling asleep when she heard Brittany starting to sing, she got out of bed slowly and stood next to her window, she leaned her head on the window and listened as the blonde sang and strummed along. Santana had no way of proving it, but she somehow felt that Brittany was playing just for her, it was something about the way Brittany was singing the song tonight, that made Santana feel that way. She felt herself getting emotional again, but couldn't pull herself away from the window, so she just stood there and listened. Quinn came out of the bathroom and rolled her eyes at Brittany's singing, she quickly closed the window and led Santana to the bed. Halfway through the first movie Santana fell asleep, so Quinn turned off the TV, and cuddled close to her before falling asleep herself. Santana felt Quinn snuggle up to her and waited for her breathing to even out before carefully sliding out of bed and going to the window, hoping Brittany was still singing but frowned when she didn't hear anymore, her chest deflated so so she got back in bed and went to sleep.

Mercedes poked her head in Santana's room. "You okay, Santana?"

"I'm good." Santana replied while glancing at the window.

"You up for a visitor?" Mercedes asked her.

Santana frowned and looked at her friend. "Who?"

"Brittany is waiting outside for you." Mercedes stated while raising an eyebrow. "Did I miss something?"

_What the hell is she doing here?_ Santana shook her head. "N-no." She replied. "Tell her to give me a minute." She then added casually, or what she thought was casually, but really came out rushed and uncertain.

"Should I invite her in the apartment or leave her in the hall?" Mercedes asked while narrowing her eyes at Santana, who was pulling her hair into a bun.

"Umm, the hall is fine. I'll be right there." Santana stated while getting out of bed.

"Ok." Mercedes sang softly as she made her way out of the room.

Santana ran to the bathroom and quickly swished some mouth wash around her mouth, and tossed water on her face, to help her wake up a little, she took the shirt she slept in off and grabbed a solid white t shirt, quickly slipping it over her head. She stared in the mirror at herself and shrugged. _This is okay? Right? Yeah, this is fine._ She nodded and left the bathroom.

Brittany stood patiently outside Santana's apartment door, dressed in a pair of jeans, and a tight, sleeveless, hooded shirt; she glanced down at her toes in her black flip flops as the door opened. Santana stepped out and closed the door behind her as she stared at blonde.

"Hey." Santana stated when she locked eyes with Brittany.

"Hey, good morning." Brittany replied. "I just, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, um, after last night." _Way to go Pierce, that was smooth._

_Wow, that's sweet of her._ "I'm okay, thanks." Santana nodded.

"Did you sleep okay?" Brittany asked her. "On the anniversary of my mom's death, I don't usually get a good night's sleep."

Santana stared at her. "Quinn stayed with me so it was okay, well usually it's okay, but I couldn't really sleep last night, I kept waking up. Luckily I'm off work today, so I'll probably just sleep all day, well most of the day."

"Cool." Brittany replied. "Well, I have to get to work, so see ya around." She added as she bent down to pick up her bag off the ground.

"Where do you work?" Santana asked her.

"Today at Lucille's, I have two jobs." Brittany told her. _I hope it's okay to give that information out, I guess it's fair since I know where she works._

"The diner?" Santana asked, Brittany nodded slightly. "Cool, I've been there before, they have good grilled cheese."

"I haven't eat there yet, I usually take a lunch to work." Brittany explained.

"Oh, well try the grilled cheese." Santana told her.

"Ok, well I better get going." Brittany told her with a smile before walking down the hall.

Santana leaned back against her door. "Thanks again." She called after the blonde, who simply lifted her hand in the air, a silent _you're welcome_. Santana stared in the direction Brittany left in before walking back in her apartment, ignoring Mercedes' wide eyes that were burning through her head. She immediately laid back in bed and surprisingly fell back asleep right away.

* * *

Brittany had her earbuds in, humming along to a song, as she stepped out of the elevator. She decided to stop by her mailbox to make sure she hadn't missed a letter from her school. She pulled out the few letters she received and began to thumb through the bills stuffing them in her bag, and tearing the junk mail in strips. She felt the presence of someone standing behind her and turned around while taking her ear buds out.

"Stay the hell away from Santana." Quinn snapped.

Brittany narrowed her eyes as a glare crossed her face. _This bitch_. "Do I know you?" Brittany asked.

"You know who the hell I am, stay away from my girlfriend." Quinn replied curtly. "She's taken, she's not interested in you, and I'm warning you now." She added while taking a step closer so she was inches away from Brittany.

"Does Santana know she has a girlfriend? Because she told me last night she didn't." Brittany quickly countered.

"Your roof _games_ stop now. I see the way you look at her." Quinn huffed while shoulder checking Brittany, as best she could since she was few inches shorter.

Brittany smirked and shoulder bumped Quinn out of the way. "I suggest you stay the hell away from me." She growled to Quinn. "Now I'm _warning_ you." She added lowly before leaving the lobby.

"Bitch!" Quinn screamed after Brittany before turning to the elevators to head back up to Santana's apartment, where she left her cell phone.

* * *

It had been four days since Quinn's _warning_ in the lobby, Brittany hadn't seen Santana that night since she worked a double shift and got home around midnight. She debated going and knocking on Santana's door to check on her again but decided against it and went to bed instead. Quinn spent more time than usual at Santana's apartment, to the point of even being there when Santana got home from work tonight, she was lying on the couch, a bowl of Doritos in her lap and a soda on the floor next to her.

"Hey." Santana waved as she walked while taking her messenger bag off. "What are you doing here?" She then asked as she got closer to the blonde and grabbed a handful of Doritos out of the bowl.

"I wanted to see you." Quinn smiled happily.

"You've stayed the past couple nights, which I appreciate but you know I need space right now." Santana told her carefully while eating the chips.

"Seriously?" Quinn asked while sitting up.

"Q, I, look." Santana sighed. "You want more from this." She started while motioning between the two of them. "I don't." She added quietly.

"So you can sleep in the same bed as me but only when you _want_ to?" Quinn asked as anger flared in her chest.

"We've been fully clothed every night, we take separate showers, and we don't even cuddle, well not purposely. I drift to people in my sleep." Santana shrugged. "We haven't even kissed."

"I kissed you good bye this morning." Quinn deadpanned.

"Yeah, you kissed me, I didn't reciprocate." Santana sighed. "Look, I don't want to argue tonight, so if you plan on staying, I just want to relax as friends."

"Fine." Quinn replied softly as she laid back down.

"Thanks, let's just chill tonight." Santana repeated while taking her shoes off and tossing them by the door. "Where's Cedes?" She asked.

"Sam's house." Quinn mumbled.

Santana nodded and relaxed deeper into the couch, Quinn lifted her legs and laid them across the Latina's lap, causing Santana to roll her eyes and lean her head back. She heard a door slam in the hall, and glanced at the time, knowing it was Brittany coming home. _I wonder how she's been._ She stared at the apartment door in a daze until she felt Quinn pulling her to lie down and spoon.

"Q." Santana shook her head.

"I'm not going to try anything, you just look uncomfortable. Do you want to go the bedroom then?" Quinn huffed.

"No, this is fine." Santana replied as she laid behind Quinn and stared at the TV.

* * *

Santana jerked awake from when she felt Quinn turn and snuggle deeper in her chest. She opened her eyes, and saw they were still on the couch, the TV was off, and the entire living room was dark. She reached over Quinn and picked up her phone, she saw it was a little after midnight and tossed the phone back on the floor. She slid from under Quinn and went to the bathroom, she then went to her bedroom and took her jeans off and changed into a pair of shorts instead.

She was looking through her drawer for a pair of socks when she heard Brittany strumming and singing from the roof.

_I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_  
_I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_  
_I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_  
_I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_

_Please understand that it's not that I don't care_  
_But right know these walls are closing in on me_  
_I love you more than I love life itself_

_But I need to find a place were I can breathe_  
_I can breathe_  
_I wanna go to place were I can hold the intangible_  
_And let go of the pain with all my might_

_I wanna go to a place where I am suspended in ecstasy_  
_Some where between dark and light_  
_Where wrong becomes right_

Santana noticed the way Brittany sounded singing the song that night, it was full of emotion, almost like she was crying. She grabbed the closest pair of shoes to her and put them on._ I have to check on her, it's only fair for her checking on me._

As she grabbed her keys, Quinn woke up and stared at her. "You leaving?" She asked through a yawn.

_Not anymore_. "Nah, I was just checking the locks." Santana shrugged while softly placing her keys back on the counter.

"Let's go get in the bed." Quinn told her as she sleepily walked to the bedroom and laid down right away.

Santana glanced at the door once more, before cleaning up the living room after them and walking in her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Quinn was lying in bed, back asleep on her stomach, so Santana went and sat on the floor by the window and listened to Brittany continue to sing.

* * *

"Table 10 needs more ketchup." Kurt, one of the waiters at the diner told Brittany when he approached the counter, where she was picking up an order.

"Cool, let me drop this off to table 8, and I'll take it to them." Brittany nodded as she lifted a tray, complete with five different meals in the air and made her way gracefully to the table. After passing out the food to each patron she looked around at them with a big smile. "Anything else I can get you folks?"

"No thanks." One of the men spoke up.

"Ok, again my name is Brittany, so just let me know." She stated before quickly going to the counter and grabbing the bottle of ketchup and taking it to Table 10. She was wiping down a table close to the door when a certain Latina caught her eye. She paused and stared at Santana, as she walked in the diner and stopped, clearly letting her eyes scan the restaurant. She was wearing a short, tight black skirt, with black gladiator sandals, and a white spaghetti strap top; her hair was in a slick ponytail, that was full of curls, and she had on a light layer of makeup. _Wow, she so gorgeous right now._ Brittany stood up straight and glanced at her uniform, black pants and white Lucille's shirt, before walking over to where the Latina was standing.

"Hey Santana, what are you doing here?" Brittany asked with a polite smile. _Great question Pierce._

"I was in the neighborhood, well headed to the park up the street before I go to work." Santana told her. "I hadn't seen you in a few days, so yeah, just thought I would stop in."

"Oh, cool." Brittany replied while trying to contain her smile. _I feel like I'm blushing. _"Well, I'm on break in a few minutes, maybe I can meet you at the park, i go there on my breaks anyways."

_Sweet!_ "Yeah, sure." Santana nodded before smiling and walking out the diner.

_Now to convince Kurt to let me take my break early. _Brittany quickly finished wiping down the table she was working on before Santana came in, and reset it for the next customer before going to the counter. "Kurt, mind if I take a break?"

Kurt looked around the diner to see how busy they were. "Yeah, go ahead. I can cover for you."

"Great thanks." Brittany said happily as she went to the kitchen and slipped one of the cooks a $10 bill to make her something right away. She went to the break room and grabbed her messenger bag, and checked herself in the mirror, ten minutes later she was walking out of the break room and into the kitchen, where her order was waiting for her. "Thanks Ken." She waved as she grabbed the bag.

She walked the short distance to the park and smiled when she saw Santana sitting on a bench, thumbing through a magazine. Santana looked when she felt Brittany's presence. Santana offered a smile and scooted over so Brittany could sit down next to her. She set a bag in the Latina's lap, Santana glanced up at her with and raised an eyebrow. "It's the grilled cheese you said was good."

"Whoa, shit, thanks." Santana smiled as she quickly opened the bag and unwrapped the sandwich, she took a bite and moaned softly. "So fuckin good." Brittany laughed as she watched her devour half the sandwich in what felt like seconds. "I heard you singing last night, you sounded sad."

Brittany froze. _ I didn't think I was that loud last night, fuck._ "Oh, nah, I was okay. Sorry if I woke you up or anything."

Santana shrugged. "You didn't, I was up, Quinn was over and..."

"Spare me." Brittany snapped. _ I don't need to hear about her and her hook ups._

Santana turned and glared at me. "Don't cut me off when I'm talking." She snapped. "Quinn was over and she snores when she sleeps, fully clothed, so I was up, and listened to you sing."

Brittany stared at the side of Santana's face. "Why do you keep sleeping with her, whether just as friends, or _sleeping_ with her, when it's obvious she irritates you?"

"It's complicated." Santana sighed. "Look, I don't want to talk about Quinn, okay?" _I rather talk about you._

"Sure, but you can tell her she has one more time to threaten me, and she will regret it." Brittany stated.

Santana's head popped up as she looked over at Brittany with wide eyes. "She did what?"

"She's cornered me in the lobby twice this week at the apartment building, told me the _roof top games needed to stop_ and _that you were her girlfriend_ and _to stay away from you_." Brittany snapped. "Like I told Mercedes, I have a temper, and Quinn is pushing me to a point of no return."

Santana shook her head. _No wonder she's been at my apartment so much_. "Umm, well don't worry about that. Quinn is harmless."

"Well, I'm not." Brittany added sternly.

_What the fuck? _ Santana nodded. "I'll handle it." Brittany didn't reply, instead she just stared straight ahead motionless, almost in a trance, until she felt Santana's hand on her arm. "Hey, I'll handle her, okay?" She stated in a softer voice.

Brittany turned and glanced at her. "Ok."

"I, uh, I have to get to work." Santana stated as she stood up. "See you on the roof tonight?"

Brittany felt her heart start to flutter. "Yeah, I'll be up there when the sun sets."

"Cool." Santana then handed Brittany the rest of the sandwich. "I saved you the rest." She smiled before standing up and walking away.

Brittany watched her walk away before opening the sandwich and taking bite. _This is good._

* * *

"I can't fuckin believe you!" Santana yelled. "You threatened her!" Quinn sat emotionless on the couch staring at television set. "Why would you fucking threaten her?"

Mercedes walked out of her bedroom. "What's all the yelling?"

"Quinn threatened Brittany!" Santana yelled angrily.

"Why do you care about her so much?" Quinn asked lowly.

"Wait, why did you threaten her? What happened?" Mercedes asked with a frown.

"This psycho told Brittany she's my girlfriend and for Brittany to stay away from me." Santana explained.

"We _could _ be girlfriends." Quinn replied.

"Why are you acting like this?" Santana asked her. "I told you the rules, I knew this was a big mistake. Go home, Quinn." She sighed as she walked to her bedroom and slammed the door.

"Quinn..." Mercedes sighed and shook her head. "All bullshit aside, the sex and whatever you two do, you are going to lose her as a friend all together at this rate." Mercedes then turned and went back to her bedroom.

* * *

Brittany had her ear pressed to door of her apartment as she listened to the screaming match across the hall. She grabbed her guitar and made her way up to the roof. She was leaning on the wall of the roof, staring at the Chicago skyline, while drinking a bottle of water. She heard the rood door closer and turned around when she heard approaching footsteps.

"Hey, here's your ice cream." Santana told her while extending the bag. "It's cotton candy, but I mixed in swirls of vanilla so it's not too sweet."

"Mixing ice cream in ice cream so it's not _too_ sweet?" Brittany laughed while grabbing the bag.

Santana laughed. "It made sense in my head, but maybe not." _Smooth._

"The heat wave is over, so you didn't have to do this, but thank you." Brittany smiled as she set the bag down.

"Well, you got me a grilled cheese sandwich, so it's fair, right?" Santana told her with a smile.

"Yeah, so we're even I guess." Brittany nodded. _She's so sweet._

Santana leaned on the ledge next to Brittany and stared out at the skyline with her. "Do you ever wonder about other people's lives? Like, that red car that just sped by, every wonder where they are going? Is they are happy in life? In love?"

Brittany glanced at her briefly before turning her attention back to the street below. "Sometimes." Brittany nodded. "When I first went to focus care I would stare out the window and create this lives for people I saw passing by. There was a black minivan that drove by every day at 4pm, I would sometimes imagine I was in there with them, two parents, leaving soccer practice, going home to have dinner together before my mom or dad helped me with math, because I'm terrible at it." Brittany laughed softly. Santana smiled and turned her head to face her. "Then we would watch some TV together before going to bed." Brittany sighed. "But, I instead, went to sleep in a room with 5 other girls, no bed time story, no..." Brittany shook her head to keep her emotions in check. "So I guess the answer is, yeah I do." She nodded when she locked eyes with Santana.

Santana averted her eyes from Brittany and looked back at the street. "Where are you from?"

"Nashville?" Santana asked. "You should be used to the heat then." She teased.

Brittany glanced at her and laughed. "It's not as humid, it's more dry heat."

"Hmmmm." Santana hummed as she turned and sat down on the blanket Brittany had outside.

Brittany followed suit and sat down as well, she opened her bag and noticed two spoons instead of the usual one. _Does she want to share, or no, maybe she put two in on accident._ "Do you want some?" Brittany asked eating a spoonful. "I don't have germs, my mouth is completely clean."

_Yes! _"Sure." _My plan worked. _She accepted the spoon from Brittany and scooped out some herself. "So what brought you to Chicago?" She asked while licking the spoon slowly before shoving it in her mouth.

_Don't lick your lips. _Brittany watched Santana eat the ice cream, and slowly lick the melted drops from her bottom lip, and felt herself getting hot. "School, I got into The Art Institute of Chicago."

Santana's eyes widened. "Seriously? You have to be really good to get in there."

Brittany blushed. "I'm okay."

"Do you have pictures of your work? I mean, I know you have a portfolio, but do you have any on your phone?" Santana asked as she scooped another spoonful of ice cream out.

Brittany nodded. _I hate showing people my work, I hope she thinks it's okay._ She scrolled through her camera roll and settled for a charcoal drawing she did of the New York skyline, before closing her eyes tightly, not wanting to see Santana's facial expression. _Don't hate it, don't be too critical._

"Wow." Santana whispered as she pried the phone out of Brittany's hand and enlarged the picture so she could see the detail. "You really drew this?"

Brittany opened her eyes. "Yeah, it's downstairs in my apartment."

"Can I scroll to see more?" Santana asked. _Always ask, I don't want to scroll and see some S&M type shit in her phone._

"Yeah, that's an album of my work." Brittany told her as she relaxed whens he saw how impressed Santana was while scrolling through picture after picture.

After explaining different abstract pictures to Santana, and showing her where she got the inspiration from for a few pieces, a comfortable silence came over them. Santana played with the hem of her shirt while Brittany leaned back and closed her eyes, lost in thought almost.

"I talked to Quinn." Santana said breaking the silence between them. "About threatening you." She added for clarification.

"Thanks." Brittany nodded as she opened her eyes and stared at Santana.

"I don't know why, but I like coming up here with you." Santana then stated. "It's weird because sometimes we don't even talk, we just sit here." She finished. "Is that weird?"

_No. _"No, I feel the same way." Brittany told her. "I don't know many people in the city, so this is cool."

"Cool." Santana smiled.

"So..." Brittany dragged out.

Santana raised her eyebrow.

"If you could pick one place to go to escape right now, like a city, where would you go?" Brittany asked her.

Santana bit her bottom lip. "An island, doesn't matter where...I just want to go somewhere were I can relax and not worry about anything, shit with Q, school, roommates even though I love Cedes, work, crime, stupidity...I just want to relax." _That sounded stupid._

"That sounds amazing." Brittany smiled while bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her head, looking in Santana's direction.

Santana mimicked her actions. "You think so?"

Brittany nodded. "That's what I picture when I'm up here."

"So we are on an island together?" Santana teased with a small smile.

Brittany laughed. "I guess so."

"I hope you can swim, because I can't swim that well." Santana laughed. "One of us needs to be able to swim for help, if we need it."

"We wouldn't need help, we would be in our perfect utopia." Brittany replied as she closed her eyes.

Santana thought about what she Brittany said and closed her eyes as well briefly, she pictured her and Brittany really being on an island, surrounded by deep blue water, warm sand, perfect weather, no worries, and not a care in the world. She opened her eyes and saw Brittany was still sitting still. _I wonder if she has the same daydream I do._ She noticed a strand of hair fall in Brittany's face, and moved to tuck it behind her ear when she heard the door to the roof fly open.

"Quinn!" Mercedes yelled while chasing the blonde as she barreled towards Brittany and Santana angrily.

"You bitch." Quinn yelled at Brittany, who quickly rose to her feet.

"What the hell, Q?" Santana asked as she jumped to her feet as well.

"I told you to stay away from her." Quinn said while getting in Brittany's face as best as she could.

"You have three seconds to get out of my face." Brittany said slowly and calmly.

Santana grabbed Quinn's arm and pulled her back. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Sorry, Brittany." Mercedes stated, but it was too late Brittany was seeing red as she watched Santana and Quinn get into a heated argument.

"You are fuckin crazy, Quinn." Santana hissed while jumping out of Quinn's grasp. "That's it, we're done, with everything, fuckin, kissing, and friendship."

"We've been friends for over five years." Quinn replied.

"You're different now, I have enough negative shit in my life without you acting like a crazy person, we should have never slept together." Santana snapped. "I knew this shit would happen, I knew it, Cedes warned me and I should have listened."

"What?" Quinn asked taking a step back.

Brittany watched carefully as the argument between the two escalated quickly, with Quinn stepping in Santana's face. "You're throwing away years of friendship for a dumb bitch that you literally hated two months ago?"

Santana glanced at Brittany quickly but turning back to Quinn. "This has nothing to do with Brittany."

"So that's the Brittany you dream about." Quinn stated as everything pieced together in her head, and Santana eyes widened as she nervously glanced at Brittany. "That's why you always want the window open at night, to hear her sing, that's why I feel you pull away from me in bed."

"This is about us, not Brittany." Santana shook her head. "This started before she moved in, I've been trying to pull away for months." Santana shook her head and sighed again. "Look, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Quinn scoffed.

Santana mumbled something under her breath, that didn't go unnoticed by Quinn, who was now glaring at her. "What did you just say?"

"Let's all just relax." Mercedes spoke up. "Quinn go home and sleep it off, Santana go back inside or sit back up here with Brittany and just relax, but you both are talking high on emotion right now."

"I said I regret ever sleeping with you, it's ruined everything." Santana repeated just as Quinn reached back and slapped her, sending Santana flying back a few steps, and holding her face.

"Q!" Mercedes yelled as she ran over to separate the two, but before she could get there, Brittany was in Quinn's face, her hand on the collar of her shirt, while she punched her with the other, twice in the eye.

"Help me!" Quinn screamed as Brittany continued to punch her.

"I warned you." Brittany said lowly to Quinn.

"Brittany!" Mercedes yelled as she tried to get her to loosen her grip on the smaller blonde.

Santana stood motionless while holding her face, which was stinging from being slapped. _What the fuck is going on?_

* * *

**Thoughts?**


	6. Chapter 6

"Brittany!" Santana yelled when she saw Mercedes couldn't pull her off of Quinn. _Fuck._ She ran over and wrapped her arms around Brittany's torso and grabbed her arms pinning them down. "Please stop."

Brittany felt Santana's arms and let Quinn's collar go, sending her falling to the ground. "I warned her, Santana."

"I know." Santana panted while holding Brittany tightly to keep her arms at bay. _I don't know if I should be turned on that she defended me or scared out of my mind that she just beat my best friend's ass and doesn't seem to care._

Brittany turned in Santana's arms and touched her face where Quinn slapped her gently. "Are you okay?" Santana nodded slowly while looking at Brittany's bruised, swollen, and now red knuckles. Brittany stared at her face and the faint red hand print and sighed. _She touches her again and I won't stop. _"Good." Brittany nodded before walking over and grabbing her guitar, blanket, and phone. She picked up the ice cream container and walked back over to Santana and pressed it on her face. "Pull the heat out of your face so you won't bruise too bad." She then glared at Quinn, who was sobbing and holding her eye and walked back in the building.

Santana nodded and kept the carton pressed to her face until the door to the roof slammed. She then ran over to Quinn. "Shit, Q are you okay?"

"We need to get her to the hospital." Mercedes stated while pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"Ok," Santana replied while reaching to touch Quinn's arm.

"Don't touch me." Quinn shrieked while scrambling to her feet. "This is your fault."

"What?" Santana asked quickly. "Here, put this on your face." She added while holding the ice cream to Quinn's eye.

"Stay the fuck away from me, Santana." Quinn snapped.

"Calm down Quinn." Mercedes said softly. "Look, I'll drive. Quinn stop being stubborn and let Santana help you, you're wobbling."

Santana wrapped her arm around Quinn's waist and pulled her close to her side to keep her steady. "I'm sorry, Quinn." She whispered while leading her to the door to the roof. "So sorry."

Santana and Mercedes helped Quinn down to the car slowly, Mercedes ran to the driver side and hopped in while Santana had Quinn stretch out across the back seat, she closed her in and opened the passenger side door.

"No, don't come." Quinn snapped.

"Q..." Santana whispered softly.

"You're little girlfriend _attacked_ me after you said you regret ever sleeping with me." Quinn shook her head and winced. "Stay the _fuck_ away from me."

Mercedes sighed and rested her head on the steering wheel. "San, babe, just get out, I promise to call you from the hospital and let you know what's going on. Go put some ice on your face, and lock the door since Brittany...well I don't know if I trust her right now."

Santana nodded and closed the door to the car. She stared at it speed down the street until Mercedes turned the corner and she made her way to her apartment. She stood in the hall and stared at Brittany's door for several minutes debating whether or not to knock. _Something's not right. _She sighed and went her apartment, double locking the door behind her. She went straight to her bedroom and flopped down on her back on her bed, and stared at the wall. _What a fuckin night._

* * *

Brittany paced around her apartment, her kitten right on her heels, while clutching her phone tightly in her hand. _I fucked up, I fucked up, I fucked up._ She tripped over Lord Tubbington and instantly felt bad. "Sorry." She mumbled while picking him up and rubbing his head. "Sorry." She repeated while kissing the top of his head as she sat down on the floor.

She allowed him to cuddle in her lap before pressing her favorites on her phone to call Rachel.

_**Hello?**_

_I did it again Rachel, I fucked up. _Brittany rushed out as a few tears slid down her face. She looked down at her hand and opened and closed it slowly, wincing in pain with every movement.

_**What? What happened Brit?**_

_I hit her, I kicked her ass, she slapped Santana, and I snapped, and i didn't mean to keep hitting her but I couldn't stop, I saw red, and you know I black out from rage I think, I fucked up.  
_

**_Whoa...okay, take a deep breath. Remember the breathing exercises you are supposed to do when you get that upset._**

_I didn't have time to think, she slapped Santana, we were on the roof, talking, just talking like normal and she ran in our faces._

**_Who? That Quinn girl you told me about?_**

_Yeah_

**_Are you okay Brittany? I'm coming over._**

_You don't have too, she didn't touch me...no one did, only Santana when she pulled me off of Quinn. _

**_I don't trust them Brittany, come stay at my place tonight. What if they try to attack you in retaliation?_**

_I can handle them if they were too, but I don't think Mercedes and Santana will, if they wanted to, they would have on the roof. They could have jumped me to get me off of Quinn, but Santana just grabbed my arms from behind so I would stop hitting here, she wasn't forceful or anything.  
_

Rachel sighed through the phone. **_So who was fighting?_**

_Santana and I were on the roof talking, like really talking about some deep shit, well I could tell it was getting deep, we were talking about our childhoods, all of sudden Quinn ran on the roof and called me a bitch and got in my face, then she got in Santana's face. Mercedes came running out, it was like she was warning Quinn not to come out in the first place. Santana and Quinn got in a argument, it sounds like they sleep together but Quinn wants more from the arrangement than Santana wants to give her. Santana told her she regretted ever sleeping with her since it ruined their friendship.  
_

_**Whoa...**_

_I know, and then Quinn slapped her and sent her back a few steps...and I lost it.  
_

**_Brittany, I know you can take care of yourself but you don't know these women to get yourself in a situation like that, what if Santana would have turned on you._**

_She wouldn't.  
_

**_Ok, well where is she now?  
_**

_I don't know, I left the roof, they might have taken Quinn to the hospital.  
_

**_Damn, that bad Brit?_**

_I couldn't stop.  
_

**_How's your hand?_**

_Hurts a little, but it'll be okay.  
_

**_I'm coming to look at it tomorrow. In the meantime, put some ice on it.  
_**

_Ok._

Brittany held the phone, unsure of what to say, but Rachel being her best friend could sit on the phone for hours, in silence, if that's what Brittany needed.

Brittany started to say something when there was a knock on her door.

_I gotta go, I'll call you tomorrow._

**_Ok, love you babe, please stay safe tonight, just stay in your apartment, just in case.  
_**

_Love you too, Rach.  
_

Brittany hung up her phone and sat Lord Tubbington down, she then walked cautiously to her door. She looked through the peephole and saw Santana, holding a first aid kit and an ice pack. _Oh shit._

Brittany opened the door slowly and stared at the Latina, whose face was now a pretty bright shade of red from being slapped.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Brittany asked. "Did she hit you again?" She asked angrily.

"No." Santana responded quickly before grazing her fingers over her face. "I just bruise easily, so it probably looks way worse than it actually is."

"Okay."

"Your hand." Santana told her. "I noticed it was bruised and red on the roof. So i brought our first aid kit over to help you out, I didn't know if you had one or anything."

Brittany looked down at her hand and shrugged. "It's okay."

"You can stop the tough girl act." Santana said tiredly. "I know you're in pain, please just let me wrap your hand up."

Brittany nodded. "It does hurt."

_It damn well should with all the force you hit Quinn with. _"Can I come in to take a look at it?"

"No."

"No?"

"No, you can't come in. We can go to the roof." Brittany stated.

"It's raining now." Santana replied. "Ok, well since I can't come in, do you want to come in my place so I can look at it, the hallway has shitty light."

_No, what if Quinn tries to attack me or Mercedes flips out. _"No."

_What the fuck!_ "How am I suppose to help you then?" Santana asked getting agitated.

Brittany shrugged and looked down. "I don't need your pity."

"You aren't going to get it, you just beat the shit out of my best friend, well former best friend...but I think we are kind of friends too, so I just want to make sure your hand is okay. Mercedes is staying at Quinn's place tonight, since they think she has a concussion; and I promise not to let anything happen to you or let anyone like run up on you."

"I can take care of myself." Brittany mumbled.

"I can tell." Santana nodded. "It never crossed my mind."

Brittany looked down at her throbbing hand and sighed. "Okay, let me grab my keys and give Lord Tubbington some fresh water."

"Is that your kitten's name?" Santana asked with a small smile.

"Yeah." Brittany replied before disappearing into her apartment and reemerging a few minutes later.

Santana turned and walked in her apartment and waited for Brittany to walk in afterwards to close the door behind her. Brittany looked around at the spacious living room, which had a couch, love seat, and huge plush chair, a flatscreen TV on the wall, some random artwork on the wall, and a huge lamp in the corner.

"We can go to my room, I have a bathroom attached." Santana told her. "If it's more comfortable."

"Your place is nice." Brittany told her. _Mine looks like shit now that I think about it._

"Thanks, my father throws money at me instead of love, so he bought everything when Cedes and I moved in here." Santana sighed while shrugging. "My bathroom is right this way."

Brittany followed Santana to her bedroom, keeping her eyes peeled and alert to her surroundings, just in case this was an ambush of some king. She stuck her hand in her pocket and gripped her pocketknife as Santana kicked her shoes off when they entered her bedroom before going to the bathroom. She had Brittany sit on the toilet seat and rest her hand on the counter while she turned on a bright lamp she used for her makeup. she then reached behind Brittany and grabbed her glasses putting them on.

She carefully went over Brittany's hand, cleaning each scrape and small cut in her skin. Brittany would occasionally inhale sharp when the cuts began to sting, but Santana blew softly on each cut right away to help soothe the pain, she placed a few small band aids on her knuckles, and set the small ice pack on Brittany's hand before wrapping it in gauze. She then cleaned everything up and washed her hands, she momentarily forgot Brittany was in the bathroom with her and began to stare at the side of her face, her eyes turning red, tears threatening to fall. _I can't believe she slapped me._

"Thank you." Brittany stated while breaking the silence.

Santana jumped initially but regained her composure immediately. "You're welcome. Can we talk for a minute before you go home?"

Brittany nodded and followed Santana to her bedroom, the Latina closed her bedroom door and locked it softly, so Brittany didn't think she was under attack. "You can sit anywhere you want." She told Brittany. "Everything's clean I went on a cleaning kick before I came to your apartment, so I dusted, vacuumed, changed my sheets, Febreezed...everything." She added. "I clean when I need to think." She clarified when Brittany stared at her.

Brittany sat on the bed, her feet hanging off the side. "She's never hit you before, has she?" She asked Santana who was once again running her fingers lightly over her face.

"No." Santana whispered. "I'll never seen her like this at all actually."

"If I ask you a question, will you be completely honest?" Brittany asked when Santana finally stopped staring at her face in the mirror and sat down on the bed next to her.

_Uh oh. _"Yeah." Santana nodded while tucking her feet underneath her so she was sitting Indian style, while facing Brittany.

"Are you and Quinn dating?" Brittany asked. "Or _were_ dating?"

"No." Santana stated confidently. "We were friends with benefits, nothing more, nothing less."

"Why?" Brittany asked. "Why not just be in a relationship with her?"

Santana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Aside from Mercedes, Quinn has been my best friend since highschool, she was there for me when my mom died, and has been by my side through all the shit I went through as a teenager, one night my dad was out of town, he left me home alone for the weekend, I was only fourteen and terrified. Quinn snuck out and caught the bus to my house to stay with me. She wasn't much help because she was scared shitless too, so we decided to drink some of my dads vodka to calm our nerves, we got drunk and I kissed her. We ended up making out all night until we fell asleep."

"So she was your first?" Brittany asked. _Makes sense if she was._

"No." Santana shook her head. "We didn't start having sex until the end of senior year, we just made out a lot before. I love Q, but only as a friend, aside from sexual attraction and friendship I don't feel anything for her. We both made the rules clear with one another, just sex, no feelings, no relationship, nothing. She's a hookup to me, and she knew that. Yeah she slept over a lot, but as friends, we didn't always have sex, or even kiss. It just kind of became a habit for her to come here and sleep. Did I maybe lead her on by always calling when I was drunk for sex? Probably, but I thought she was okay with the rules.'

_She looks so vulnerable right now._ Brittany listened to every word she stated and let them sink in. "You told her you regretted ever sleeping with her. Why?"

Santana played with the hem of her pants. "Our friendship changed, I couldn't talk to her about _everything_ anymore. I met a girl at work a few months ago, I was excited and the first thing you want to do when you meet someone is tell your best friends, right?" Santana paused. "Like I'm sure you tell that Berry girl everything."

"Rachel is her name, but yeah." Brittany stated sternly. _The way she said Berry was so cute._

Santana laughed slightly. "Yeah Rachel, I came home and was telling Mercedes about her, and Quinn walked in and just completely killed the mood, she pointed out all this weird stuff about her and it just pissed me off."

Brittany frowned. "So you didn't go out with the girl?"

"I still did." Santana told her. "But it was weird between Quinn and I afterwards, and I didn't want to ruin my friendship with her, not for a random hookup so I stopped seeing the girl."

_What the hell? Quinn is manipulating her. _"Didn't you see that as a problem?"

_I can't believe I'm telling her this. _"Yes," Santana nodded. "Remember earlier on the roof when you said you wanted a family...I want one too, Quinn and Mercedes are my family, and I can't afford to lose them, at least I thought."

"But you have a dad." Brittany stated. _At least you have that._

"I have a _father_ not a _dad_." Santana snapped. "Big ass difference in the two blondie."

_Sore spot with her obviously. _"Okay." Brittany replied while standing up and looking at the medical books around Santana's desk. "Are you pre-med?"

"Yeah." Santana nodded. "Well, I'm hoping to be...I've just been taking my basic classes so far."

"Why did you come check on me?" Brittany asked. "Why aren't you with Quinn?"

Santana stood up and walked over by Brittany, leaning back on her desk. "Quinn didn't want me at the hospital, she's pissed at me. Even though we're friends, maybe not anymore, but we were friends and I hope she's okay. I'm glad she didn't want me there."

"Why?" Brittany asked while leaning back on the desk as well.

"I wanted to check on you." Santana said softly. "Make sure you were okay, because you didn't have anyone to, and like I said...we're friends, kinda."

Brittany felt her heart flutter at the word friend. "Yeah we are." She then moved to sit on Santana's bed.

Santana followed her and sat next to her on the bed once again. "Can I ask you a question now?" Brittany nodded. "Why did you defend me?"

"I don't like seeing innocent people get attacked, there was no reason for Quinn to slap you, you don't hit a friend, you don't talk to a friend like that, it wasn't cool, and it pissed me off." Brittany snapped. "And I like you, we were on our roof island, and she interrupted that. The roof has become our safe haven kinda, we talk, we sit in silence, it's _our_ place..._our island._"

Santana felt her heart begin to beat faster. "Thank you for defending me, but..."

"No buts...look, I'm sorry Quinn got hurt because she's your friend, but I'm not sorry for what I did." Brittany stated. "Do you get the difference?"

Santana nodded. _God, she's so badass, super unapologetic for kicking someones ass._

"So you have a temper?" Santana asked.

Brittany nodded and looked down at her wrapped up hand. "Does it scare you?"

"No."

"Good, because you don't have to be scared around me or of me...I would never hurt you." Brittany stated while glancing up and looking deep in Santana's eyes. "Never, I promise."

Santana swallowed thickly and nodded before licking her lips slowly, her eyes flickered down to Brittany's lips and back up to her eyes quickly. "I like you." She blurted out.

"What?" Brittany asked.

"Shit...you're not gay." Santana said while jumping off the bed. "Fuck...I'm so sorry." _Most embarrassing moment ever._

"No, it's okay." Brittany said quickly while jumping off the bed as well. and walking behind her. "I'm bi, so it's okay...because I like you too." She added quietly.

Santana turned around with a small smile. "Really?"

Brittany nodded and sighed. "I don't like people usually, new people. We got off on the wrong foot, but we bond on the roof, and I like that...I like you."

"Cool." Santana smirked shyly. "Ummmm, my head really hurts if we are being honest, and I don't really want to be alone, a lot happened this evening, do you want to stay and watch a movie or something?"

Brittany thought for a moment, even though she was still on guard over what happened earlier, she didn't see Santana as a threat so she decided to ignore Rachel's warning that they might be retaliating against her soon.

"Yeah, here in your room?" She asked while looking around and focusing her eyes on the 42 inch flatscreen on the wall.

"Yeah, unless you want to go the living room, whatever is most comfortable for you." Santana shrugged.

Brittany sat on the bed again. "This is fine."

"Okay, I'm going to grab some aspirin and a bottle of water. Do you need anything, or want anything...water, juice?"

"No thanks." Brittany shook her head. "You should get a cool towel and put it on your face."

Santana left the room, so Brittany took a look around and took in the pictures, posters, and awards on the wall. She also noted how everything matched perfectly in her room, even the curtains and bedspread. The main thing she noticed was the amount of books Santana had everywhere, ranging in a variety of topics. Her eyes finally settled on a picture in a gold frame next to her bed on the table. It was clearly a younger Santana, maybe four or five years old, she's sitting on a woman's lap, staring up at her with a big smile, the woman, almost a splitting image of Santana now, was looking down at her, an equally huge smile on her face. The two were in matching dresses and looked adorable together. Brittany picked up the picture and stared at it, her mind wondering to her one picture she had of her and her mother as well. She was so lost in thought she didn't notice Santana was standing in front of her until a tan hand crossed her eye sight and pointed to the woman in the picture.

"That's my mom, it was my fifth birthday, so we had a photoshoot." Santana explained. "It's why we are matching."

"She's really pretty." Brittany smiled and handed her the picture.

Santana quickly used the bottom of her t-shirt to wipe the picture off, removing the fingerprint she just put on there. "Thank you, she was a model." She stated proudly. "The famous Isabella Santanita Lopez to be exact." She added with a smile as a tear drop fell from her eye on the glass. _Do not cry_. She quickly wiped her eye and set the picture down.

Brittany stared at her and glanced back at the picture. "That's cool, so did she travel a lot?"

Santana shrugged. "Not too much when I was that age, just mainly national stuff, when I got to middle scnool she became more international." She stood up and went to her closet and grabbed a big pink binder and handed it to Brittany. "This is some of her prints and magazine features." She stated while sitting next to Brittany and opening the binder. "This is when she was in Vogue, this is Cosmo Latina, this is one of her five covers for Latina, this is her Rolling Stone cover...hands down my favorite one." Santana gushed while tapping her finger on the page. Her mother was dressed in a red leather catsuit, big curls cascading down her back, her makeup was minimal and very natural exposing her raw beauty.

"She's gorgeous on here." Brittany nodded. "Wow."

"Sorry...you probably don't want to see all this stuff." Santana stated while moving to close the binder.

"I do, this is important to you, never apologize for talking about your mother...in any capacity." Brittany told her. "Do you know what her favorite shoot was?" She then asked.

"My mom was super bad ass." She laughed while flipping through the book to a photospread of her mother surrounded by lions."

"Are these real?" Brittany asked when she saw the three male lions surrounding her mother.

"Yep." Santana laughed. "I remember crying because I wanted to go watch this shoot so back but Javier, my father, wouldn't let me."

"This is so cool." Brittany breathed out to herself while staring at the picture.

"This is from the same shoot." Santana stated while turning the page to a picture of her mother posing with three cobra snakes.

Brittany's eyes widened. "Damn, she was bad ass." She smiled.

"I miss her so much." Santana stated while closing the binder and taking it back to the closet. "Now _she_ was really my best friend." She smiled when she sat back down.

"How did she die?" Brittany asked. _I hope she doesn't freak out._

"Overdose." Santana answered shakily while grabbing the remote to her TV and turning it on.

"I'm sorry." Brittany replied immediately.

Santana stared straight ahead at the TV. "It's fine." She cleared her throat and handed Brittany the remote. "I have Netflix and Hulu, so pick what you want to watch." She then scooted back to the head of the bed and picked up her towel pressing it to her face.

Brittany settled on a movie and scooted back to the middle of the bed, she glanced at Santana and could tell she was a little upset so she slid back so she was next to her. She noticed Santana look at her feet, with her shoes still on. "Sorry." Brittany blushed slightly and took her shoes off.

_We're sitting in my bed, shit we're in my bed. _Santana glanced at Brittany and leaned her head back against her headboard while she tried to focus on the movie. "Are you comfortable?"

"Yeah, are you?" Brittany asked her. "Do you need to lie down with your head or anything?"

"No, it's okay." Santana replied. "Is your hand okay?"

Brittany lifted her bandaged hand and stared at it. "It's okay."

* * *

**2am**

Brittany stirred and woke up when she felt the arm around her waist tighten and accidentally bump her hand. She winced from the pain and opened her eyes, smiled at Santana, who was fast asleep cuddled in her side. The pair watched two movies before Santana fell asleep, with her head on Brittany's shoulder. She had her arm around Santana's shoulders and didn't have the heart to move her so just fell asleep herself earlier. She slid the Latina's glasses off of her face and set them on the table next to them. She then slid out of Santana's arms and carefully laid her down so she was lying flat, she looked around her room and spotted a blanket and tossed it on her.

_I should leave. _She thought to herself while staring at the door before resting her eyes back on the Latina's sleeping frame, who was waking up slowly. Santana cleared her throat and propped herself up on her elbow.

_She's still here._ "Hey, you're still here."

"Yeah, I was going to..."

"You don't have to leave." Santana finished for her.

"You want me to stay?" Brittany asked her to clarify.

Santana nodded. "Yeah." She mumbled before lying back down.

_Here goes. _Brittany laid back in bed next to Santana and faced her. They had a safe distance between the two of them, safe enough that another body could actually fit between the two of them.

Santana stared at Brittany and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Thanks for staying."

Brittany nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving the brown eyes in front of her. Santana took a deep breath and slowly licked her lips as her eyes flickered down to Brittany's. She wiggled closer and rested her hand on the blonde's waist.

"I like you." She repeated.

"I like you, too." Brittany nodded as her fingers began to tangle through Santana's hair, Santana leaned forward to kiss her but she paused and took a small breath. "Don't get too close to me, I explode when handled the wrong way." Brittany stated softly and sadly. "I'm like a grenade."

"I'm not scared." Santana told her. "You don't scare me." She cupped Brittany's cheek and pressed her lips against hers softly.

_Damn her lips are as soft as they look._

_Oh shit I'm kissing her!_

_This feels amazing._

Santana broke the kiss and sighed at the loss of contact. "I won't handle you the wrong way."

"Ok." Brittany nodded. "Please don't." She added with a tear in eyes. "Promise you won't."

"I promise." Santana assured her before pressing their lips together again briefly.

* * *

**Thoughts?**


	7. Chapter 7

Santana stirred and woke up quickly with the frantic urge to use the bathroom. She stared at Brittany, who was still in bed, fast asleep while facing her. After the two soft yet powerful kisses they shared in the early hours of the morning, the two stared at one another, trying to figure out the other's facial expressions and thoughts before they eventually fell back to sleep, a safe distance in between the two of them once again. Santana noticed Brittany's fists were balled up, as they laid across her chest, almost like she was protecting herself; her face was far from relaxed and her breathing was ragged. Santana moved some hair out of her face and slowly got out of bed so she didn't wake her up. She adjusted the blanket so more of it was covering Brittany, and made her way to the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind.

Once Brittany heard the bathroom door softly click closed her eyes popped open immediately and she stuck her hand in her pocket, grazing her pocket knife while looking around to take in her surroundings. Her eyes settled on the picture of Santana and her mother causing her to relax when she remembered she was in Santana's apartment, in her bedroom, lying in her bed. _I need to go home._ She thought to herself. _Last night was just her being vulnerable because she was hurt, I defended her and this is the hero syndrome._ She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. _The kiss felt real, she told me about her past…this has to be real_. Brittany then shook her head and laid back down. _I can't just leave her….wait…where the hell is she?_

"Santana?" Brittany called while sitting back up. She heard the handle of Santana's bedroom start to jiggle and turn, like someone was desperately trying to get in. She stared at the door and when it swung up she jumped to her feet with her pocketknife out and ready. _I knew she was going to set me up. _She quickly grabbed the person's arm and twisted them around. She swiftly pinned their arm behind their back with her left hand, her right arm was around their neck, with the knife centimeters away.

"B-Brittany, relax….it's just me." Mercedes said calmly in between deep breaths. "I swear I'm not here to hurt you or anything. I didn't even know you _were_ here."

Santana heard the commotion and came running out of the bathroom. "What the fu…." She slowly walked over to them and stood in front of them. "Stay calm Cedes, just don't move."

"Ok." Mercedes whispered.

"Brittany, what happened?" Santana asked darting her eyes between Brittany's scared blue ones, and Mercedes terrified brown ones.

"She barged in, you set me up." Brittany told her. "You set me up."

"Brittany, let her go, please. I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you in my apartment and I mean it. Mercedes always checks on me in the morning after a rough night, she has a key to my bedroom, and I have a key to hers, so that's how she got in." Santana explained while placing her hand on Brittany's, that was holding the knife, and moving it from Mercedes' neck. "Go to your room, Cedes, I'll come talk to you in a few minutes." Santana stated softly, her eyes never leaving Brittany's.

Mercedes nodded. "But..."

"I'll be fine." Santana told her. _I think I will be._

Once Mercedes left the room, Santana carefully reached for Brittany's hand and slid the knife out slowly, and tossed it on the floor. "I don't break promises, Brittany. I may do a lot of fucked up shit, but I don't break promises, so when i promised you nothing would happen to you in my apartment, I meant it. _No one_ here will ever hurt you."

Brittany nods slowly, staring deep in my eyes. _I don't know if I can believe her. _"Why should I believe you?" She asked.

"I haven't lied to you about anything, you don't have a reason not to trust me." Santana replied with her eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't have a reason _to_ trust you either." Brittany spit out harshly.

Santana dropped her hands. "No you don't." She walked back and sat on her bed. "Brittany, I like you, for some reason I really like you, I can't explain it, but we have a connection. I know you like me and trust me even just the slightest, because you came in my apartment last night, in my bedroom, and we talked, and we fell asleep together, in the bed. We kissed." Santana looked up at Brittany for a moment. "We've shared things with one another about our past, you don't do that with someone you don't trust."

Brittany nodded. "I know, but I'm scared. I feel something around you, and I can't feel that way." _I gotta get out of here. _Brittany quickly picked up her knife. "Tell Mercedes I'm sorry, not for my reaction, but sorry because it was her." She added before leaving the room quickly.

"Wait..." Santana jumped up but was met with the slamming of the apartment door.

"Everything okay?" Mercedes asked as she walked in the living room.

"I don't know." Santana sighed. "Something's really wrong with her, like she had a really fucked up childhood or something."

"You like her, I can tell." Mercedes stated as she sat on the couch.

"Yeah, I do." Santana nodded. "How's Quinn?"

"Pissed." Mercedes laughed. "But she's okay, just a black eye, busted lip, and bruised cheek bone. She'll heal nicely."

"Last night was a fuckin disaster." Santana groaned while leaning forward resting her elbows on her knees.

"Yeah it was, but I think you need to talk to Quinn." Mercedes told her. "And I need details on why Brittany was in your bed, with the door locked."

"Long ass story, I just want to take a long shower and try to get some sleep before work." Santana replied while standing up. "We can talk later."

"Cool." Mercedes nodded.

* * *

**8pm**

Brittany walked in her apartment after a long day of work, ready to take a long shower and go to sleep. The events of the previous night and the morning drained her, she was unfocused at work, causing her to move slower than normal and even mess up a few orders. She picked up Lord Tubbington and stroked his soft fur.

"Sorry I was gone all day, but I did buy you a new toy with my tips from today." She smiled while setting him down on the air mattress and reaching in her bag, pulling out a small ball for him. "This is kind of cool, huh?"

The small kitten began to swat at the toy happily, causing Brittany to smile. "I need to change your litter box, so be right back." She told him while going to the corner and dumping the contents into a small garbage bag, she then tied it tightly and grabbed her keys to head down to the garbage outside. As she was walking down the stairs her phone began to ring. She slid it out of her pocket and saw it was Rachel.

_**Hey Rach**_

_Hey, Mike and I are coming over tonight...did you eat?_

**_I'm not really up for company tonight._**

_Brittany, we are coming over, I need to look at your hand, and you need to be around some real friends right now._

**_Fine, and no I didn't eat yet. I just got home from work, I'm taking the trash out right now._**

_Great, what do you want? Pizza or Chinese?_

**_Doesn't matter._**

_Cool, we'll be over in like thirty minutes._

**_Ok, see you then._**

"I just want to sleep." Brittany sighed as she reached the lobby and made her way outside to the garbage, she tossed it in, and began to head back to the building when she heard talking.

"No, Q, look it's just best if you don't come up right now." Santana told her softly. "You hit me, like you fuckin slapped me."

"It was an accident, I was pissed, you said a bunch of hurtful shit." Quinn replied sadly. "I just, I got upset."

"You know about my past, you know hitting me was..." Santana took a deep breath. "Whatever we had going on, it's over, and I don't even know about our friendship right now."

"Is your friendship over with Brittany?" Quinn snapped. "She attacked me. Look at my damn face!"

"Look, I said I'm sorry Brittany attacked you, I really, really am, but she was defending me, while my supposed best friend attacked me." Santana told her. "Please, just go home, don't make this hard."

Brittany walked closer and peeked around the garbage can. She saw Santana leaning against the wall, she was wearing a pair of loose sweats and her work shirt, her hair was draping around her shoulders, she had her arms crossed over her chest, a cigarette in one hand, and her left leg pinned against the wall. She looked sad and exhausted. Quinn was sitting on a crate, holding a bag of ice to her face. Her back was to Brittany, but she could tell her hair was down, and she was wearing a tshirt, and jean shorts.

"So you are really doing this because of..." Quinn started but Santana held up her hand to silence her.

"This decision is because of _your_ actions and _my _feelings." Santana told her. "Nothing and no one else. I've tried pulling away for months now Q, and yes I've led you on by calling you when I was drunk, and I'm sorry for that, I am, but I can't anymore. When i say I need space, I really need to just not be around you, so I would appreciate if you didn't come over anymore. I know Cedes lives there but I talked to her and she's okay with just going to your apartment to hang out." Santana took a final drag from her cigarette and flicked it to the side.

"Take care, Quinn." Santana smiled weakly before starting to walk away.

"I love you!" Quinn screamed. "I love you, please don't do this."

Santana wiped the tears that sprang to her eyes when she heard those three words. She turned her head and stared at Quinn. "I, I."

Brittany felt her heart go into overdrive, and her stomach drop when Santana tripped over her response to Quinn.

"I don't love you Quinn." Santana finally replied. "Not in the way you need me to." She stared at her former best friend. "This isn't healthy for either or us, so I have to end it. Bye."

Brittany turned and ran to the front of the building when she saw Santana finally start to walk away. She heard Quinn begin to sob but continued running, she bolted in the building and ran into Mercedes, knocking her back a few steps.

"Sorry." Brittany said quickly as she tried to catch her breath.

"No worries." Mercedes smiled. "You okay, you running from someone?"

"No, I um, I left my stove on I just ran to the trash, so I need to get back upstairs." Brittany spit out quickly. _Smooth Pierce, real smooth._

Mercedes stared at her, not entirely believing her but smiled eventually. "I've done that before too." She nodded.

"Sorry about this morning." Brittany then told her.

"Don't worry about it, just ummm, yeah, don't worry about it." Mercedes told her with a genuine smile.

Brittany nodded and ran towards the staircase just as Santana walked in the building. "You leaving?" She asked Mercedes.

"Yeah, going to Puck's house, want to come?" Mercedes asked her.

Santana shook her head. "Naw, I just talked to Quinn, I'm drained...I just want to go lie down."

Mercedes stared at her. "Want me to stay home?"

"Naw, tell them all I said hi." Santana smiled slightly. "I'll be fine, I swear, just a lot to process."

"Ok, see ya later." Mercedes told her after hugging her.

Santana waited for the elevator and rolled her neck around to stretch it as she walked it and pressed the button for her floor, when she reached her door she turned and stared at Brittany's apartment for several minutes, before finally turning and walking in hers.

Brittany, who was looking through her peep hole at Santana, opened the door when she closed hers and stared back at the Latina's door, before closing it and going to lie down. _I can't like her._

* * *

"Ok, ok, ok what about when we all snuck out at midnight on Halloween in the sixth grade?" Mike laughed while taking a long sip of his soda.

"Epic night." Brittany nodded in agreement. "We were in our costumes with no where to go."

"We were dressed as Power Rangers and tried to raise hell." Rachel recalled.

"I got in so much trouble that night, my dad was up and waiting for me." Mike shook his head. "I tried to think of a lie on the spot and failed so miserably that he decided my embarrassment was punishment enough."

"My dads slept like rocks, so I was okay." Rachel winked as she grabbed another slice.

"My foster parents were awake, waiting with a belt." Brittany said quietly. "I was whipped for over an hour, them tag teaming back and forth, when one got tired, before I was put in the closet as punishment for the rest of the night." She added.

"What?!" Mike yelled. "Tell me your joking!"

Brittany and Rachel grew quiet as Rachel placed her hand on Brittany's back.

"You knew about this Rachel?" Mike asked.

Rachel nodded and glanced at Brittany. "Well, not about that night, but I knew that Brittany's foster parents were abusive."

"Brittany, my dad is a sheriff, and my mom is a lawyer, why didn't you tell me?" Mike asked her.

"I had a bed, and food, and heat, and my own room." She sighed. "I didn't want to lose any of that."

Mike rubbed his face harshly. "Did you other families abuse you?"

Brittany nodded. "Not always with physical force, the family I had in high school, just did with verbal abuse mainly, but the physical abuse was there as well." She glanced at Rachel and grabbed her hand. "Which is why I spent a lot of time at the Berry household."

"You were always welcome, my dads loved you." Rachel replied.

"I know. I love them too." Brittany smiled.

"This is bullshit Brittany." Mike snapped. "We've been friends for how long? We dated! I should have known."

"What was I supposed to do?!" Brittany yelled. "Bring it up while we were making out in the back of your car? I handled it, I steered clear of them, I started to fight back."

"Brittany..." Mike sighed with tears in his eyes. "I would have helped you, my parents would have helped you."

"I have myself." Brittany told him. "I helped myself."

"Why don't we talk about something else?" Rachel suggested while glancing at Brittany.

"Fine." Mike sighed before leaning over and hugging Brittany tightly, he kissed her on the cheek. "I would have protected you then, and I still will now." He whispered in her ear. "All you have to do is call."

Brittany nodded and hugged him back. "I know."

* * *

Santana was lying on the couch when her phone rang. She saw it was her father's cell phone number and answered.

**_Hola papi_**

_This isn't papi...it's Carmen. _Her younger sister giggled.

Santana sat up with a smile. **_Hola Carmen, how are you sweetie?_ **Carmen was her half sister from her father's second marriage, she was 8 years old and completely adored Santana. Even thought Santana had a very strained relationship with her step mother, she loved her younger sisters.

_Bien, I miss you._

**_I miss you too. _**Santana smiled. **_How is your summer going?_**

_Good, we went to the beach yesterday with mami and papi. Papi took his boat out and everything._

**_Sounds awesome. _**Santana smiled as a tear came to her eyes, she couldn't remember the last time she interacted with her father outside of him dropping off a check to her for rent and utilities, after her mother died their relationship grew rocky, and when he remarried, it became non existent, to her. Her father tried on numerous occasions with her, but Santana's loyalty remained with her mother. When she came out to her father, she saw the disappointment on his face, and he consequently blamed her mother for dying and not being around to steer her in the _right direction sexually._

_How come you didn't come?_

**_I was at work, but hopefully I can make it next time._**

_Ok, cuz Izzy wanted you there too._

**_Where is Izzy?_ **Santana asked, inquiring about her other sister, who was now six years old.

_Oh she's __asleep. Can we come over and get ice cream again_?

_**Sure, I'll check with papi to see when a good time is. **_Santana told her.

_Sweet, I have to show my new dolls and..._ There was commotion on the line before a different voice came in loud and clear. _Santanita, do you know what time it is?_

Santana rolled her eyes. **_It's nine Papi_**

_Why would you call this late? Carmen should be asleep._

**_I didn't call her Papi, she called me._**

_You are the older sibling, you should have advised her to talk in the morning, her rest is important._

**_Sorry. _**Santana laid back down, completely deflated as her mood shifted quickly

_How are things?_

**_Good._**

_How is work going? Are you a manager yet?_

**_Work is good Papi, and no I'm not a manager._**

_That means you aren't working hard enough. I didn't get to where I am by slacking off and not working hard._

**_I don't slack off at work Papi. _**Santana snapped.

_Do you need money?_

**_No._**

_Are you enrolled in any summer classes?_

**_No._**

_Santanita...you will enroll in at least one summer class. _

_**Fine Papi.**  
_

_I have to go now, Carmen needs to get settled back down._

**_Can Carmen and Isabella come over next weekend, she asked me if she could._**

_I need to discuss that that with Liza first._

**_Ok._**

_Good night, Santanita. I love you._

**_I, uh, bye_ Papi. **Santana replied before hanging up her phone and tossing it on the floor.

Santana picked her phone back up and stared at her lock screen, a picture of her mother and sighed. "I wish you were still here."

* * *

**Midnight**

Mercedes walked in the apartment and saw Santana asleep on the couch, she slipped her shoes off for her and went to the bedroom, grabbing her blanket off of her bed, she covered her up and turned off the lamp in the living room before going to her own bedroom and getting ready for bed.

Santana jumped when her phone rang, she reached for the phone and sighed when she saw it was Quinn. She pressed ignore and put the phone back on the floor, she snuggled deeper in the blanket that was covering, thanking Mercedes in her head, since she knew she it came from her. She heard an argument in the hallway and rolled her eyes before standing up and going to her bedroom.

She stripped down to small shorts and tshirt, before diving in bed, ready to sleep her confusing thought and the stress of the past two days away when she heard the soft strumming of a guitar. She immediately knew it was Brittany and walked over to the window, it wasn't a song she heard Brittany play before and was intrigued by the melody. Brittany was strumming while tapping the guitar with her hand creating an underlying beat.

_One shot to your heart without breaking your skin  
No one has the power to hurt you like your kin  
Kept it inside, didn't tell no one else  
Didn't even wanna admit it to yourself  
And now your chest burns and your back aches  
From 15 years of holding the pain  
And now you only have yourself to blame  
If you continue to live this way_

Santana leaned against the window and listened to Brittany continue to sing.

_Get it together  
You wanna heal your body  
You have to heal your heart  
Whatsoever you sow you will reap  
Get it together_

Santana got grabbed a sweatshirt and put some sneakers on to make her way to the roof. She was opening the door when she heard Brittany singing the chorus to the song again.

___Get it together  
You wanna heal your body  
You have to heal your heart  
Whatsoever you sow you will reap  
Get it together_

Brittany was sitting on a blanket, her kitten right in front of her curled in a little ball asleep, she had candles around her causing her to glow. Santana stared at her for a few minutes before walking closer.

"Hey." She waved when Brittany stopped strumming and looked up at her.

"Hey." Brittany replied while locking eyes with her. "Have a seat." Brittany told her while scooting over and patting the blanket.

Santana nodded and walked over towards her and took a seat relatively close to her on purpose, brushing her bare knee against Brittany's clothed on. "I like your song, is it new?" Santana asked.

"Kind of." Brittany shrugged. "How was your day?" She asked as she set the guitar down and angled her body to look at Santana.

"Weird." Santana replied. "How was yours?"

"Ok." Brittany replied, a small smile on her face when Santana lifted Lord Tubbington in her lap and began to stroke him slowly.

_I don't know what to say to her._

_Is she looking at me...I think she's looking at me._

_Her eyes are sad._

_I can't stop staring at her lips._

Santana cleared her throat slightly. "Can I ask you a question?"

Brittany picked up her water bottle and took a sip. "Sure."

"Why do you carry a pocketknife?" Santana asked. "Do you always carry it or did you just grab it last night because you didn't trust me?"

"I've carried a pocketknife since I was fourteen years old." Brittany told her while scratching the kitten behind the ear when he opened his eyes and looked up at her. "I told you I moved from foster home to home right?" Santana nodded. "The last foster home I was in, the parents were abusive, and so were their kids. I got beat and whipped, but the worst punishment was being locked in the closet. They had a son, who was five years older than me, he walked in on me in the shower one night and began licking his lips every time he saw him. I thought he was going to rape me, or try to touch me, so after a few days or barricading my door with my dresser, Rachel and I went to buy a pocketknife. I've kept it on me every since."

"Whoa." Santana breathed out softly. "Why, why didn't you leave and let the social worker know?"

"I had a warm bed and clothes, they always fed me, I didn't want to go back to the group home. I was getting older and the odds of being adopted after that were one in probably one million." Brittany told her.

"You didn't deserve that." Santana told her. "You know you deserve better."

"You don't know anything about me." Brittany snapped while standing up.

Santana set the kitten down and stared at Brittany. "I know you're very guarded and defensive, I know you have a mean right hook, and that you can really blacken an eye." She laughed softly. _I hope she doesn't get mad. _"I know that you have a beautiful singing voice, that you are a great friend according to Rachel and Mike, I know that you are a great artist, that you have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen on a person, even if they look sad and tired I notice when they sparkle when you talk about your artwork, or your kitten."

Brittany turned around and stared at Santana. _She doesn't know me._

"I know that you defended me like no one ever has before, I know that for some reason i trusted you enough to tell you about my mom, and I don't talk about her to people outside of Mercedes and Quinn, because she's so special to me, and I don't want to share her, not even her memories with anyone. I know that when we kissed I felt something I've never felt before." Santana replied. "No, I don't _know_ you Brittany, but I know enough about you to want to know more, if you'll tell me."

Brittany walked back over and sat down next to Santana. "Why?" She cleared her throat. "Why do you care so much?"

"I don't know." Santana shook her head. "But I don't want to stop caring."

"Thank you." Brittany whispered while closing her eyes and letting a few tears slip out.

"For what?"

"Since Rachel, no one has ever told me they cared, just because." Brittany sniffled.

"Well...I care." Santana responded while wiping Brittany's tears away. "I care about you, Brittany."

Brittany finally opened her eyes and stared at Santana. "I can tell and it's scary."

"Don't be scared." Santana told her softly as her eyes flickered down to Brittany's lips. She leaned forward and kissed Brittany softly, causing the blonde to gasp into the kiss.

Brittany tensed but relaxed as Santana started to move her lips against Brittany's slowly. She began to kiss Santana back as her hands cupped her slender face. Santana licked the crease between Brittany's lips and smiled when Brittany parted them. She slipped her tongue and stroked Brittany's.

_Oh God!_

_This feels amazing!_

Santana broke the kiss and rested her forehead on Brittany's. "Grenade or not...I care." She told her while wiping her remaining tears away.

* * *

**Thoughts?**


End file.
